In a series of summonses by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Italian ambassador in Ankara was the latest European diplomat to be summoned to the ministry over complaints about alleged demonstrations and activities by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Ambassador Giorgio Marrapodi was briefed by the ministry on Monday about the "concern" caused by a demonstration in the Italian capital Rome that allegedly displayed PKK symbols and pictures of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

As reported by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, the Italian authorities were asked to ban such demonstrations and activities, which, according to the Turkish ministry, were held "under the cover of non-governmental organisations."

Earlier, on 3 June, the Greek ambassador in Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry over concerns about PKK activities in his country. The ministry complained to Ambassador Christodoulos Lazaris that the PKK was carrying out propaganda in Greece, financing it and recruiting new supporters.

The German and French ambassadors in Ankara were summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on 31 May 2022 to protest against events organised by Kurds in those countries. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the ambassadors had been informed of Turkey's unease about the "events organised by the PKK."

The repeated calls by the Turkish Foreign Ministry to European countries to ban demonstrations and activities of Kurdish activists coincide with the call of the "Defend Kurdistan" campaign to demonstrate on 11 June 2022 against Turkey's ongoing military operation and occupation of Southern Kurdistan and the announced offensive in Northern and Eastern Syria.