POLICE raided Kurdish institutions and the homes of representatives of the community in the early hours of this morning in London, arresting at least six people.

The Kurdish Community Centre, in north London, will remain closed for up to two weeks, police said, as it is searched as part of a counter-terrorism investigation into the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Members of the community and supporters gathered outside the community centre in Haringey in protest.

They attempted to pass the police cordons, resulting in clashes with officers and the arrest of at least one person.

Protesters also blocked off the main road nearby on Green Lanes.

The PKK has been banned in Britain since 2001 and has been fighting for Kurdish rights in Turkey since the early 1980s.

A spokesperson for the Unity of Democratic Organisations Britain, a coalition of community groups from Turkey, said that the attack was a “blow on the struggle of the Kurdish people’s right to exist.”

“We condemn this attack and call on all people to protest against these attacks,” they said.

“We demand the release of our arrested friends.”

Day-Mer, a Turkish and Kurdish community centre in the coalition, condemned the raid, adding: “We will not remain silent and will continue to stand in solidarity with the community and against the criminalisation of Kurdish institutions, their leaders and Kurds who stand for their freedom.”

Gik-Der, another coalition community, said: “[Kurds] who had to migrate to Europe from Turkey, where the Kurdish people's right to life and existence is denied, are now being subjected to attacks and criminalisation attempts in Britain.

“The Labour Party government, which continues to increase its political, financial, diplomatic and military relations with the fascist [Turkish President Recept Tayyip] Erdogan, is attacking the organised presence of Kurds living in Britain as a requirement and continuation of this relationship.”