Anadolu staff
21 January 2026•Update: 22 January 2026
BERLIN
Supporters of the terror group YPG/SDF attacked police officers and vandalized businesses in several German cities Tuesday evening as demonstrations over tensions in Syria grew violent.
In Stuttgart, a demonstration organized by the YPG/SDF quickly descended into chaos as demonstrators repeatedly ignited pyrotechnics and attacked passing vehicles and police officers.
When demonstrators tried to forcibly break through police lines, authorities deployed pepper spray to control the crowd.
"Our officers were unfortunately exposed to massive violent acts," said Stuttgart police spokesman Timo Brenner. "It was only due to fortunate circumstances that no officers were injured."
Police briefly detained 75 people on suspicion of breaching the peace, attacking officers, and violating explosives and assembly laws. All were subjected to ID checks and fingerprinting.
Authorities recorded video footage of the incidents and deployed a helicopter for aerial surveillance, saying they will analyze the material to identify and prosecute those responsible.
Similar violent incidents took place in Dortmund, where pro-YPG/SDF demonstrators targeted a Syrian restaurant near the central train station. They hurled chairs and tables and smashed windows.
Police officially dissolved the Dortmund demonstration, but violence continued on the streets. Demonstrators threw firecrackers and pyrotechnics at officers, with some attacking police with iron bars. Multiple officers sustained injuries in the clashes.
The protests came as Syrian army forces carried out operations in northeastern Syria after the SDF failed to comply with provisions of a ceasefire agreement. Under the deal, the SDF was required to withdraw military formations east of the Euphrates River and hand over administrative and security control of the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces to the Syrian government.
The agreement also mandated that all border crossings and energy resources come under central government authority, with SDF personnel to be individually integrated into the Syrian Defense and Interior ministries following security vetting.
Syria's Defense Ministry announced a four-day ceasefire with the SDF on Tuesday evening, "in line with the understandings announced by the Syrian state with the SDF" and "out of keenness to ensure the success of the national efforts being made."
The SDF is dominated by the YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist group PKK. The PKK is classified as an ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency Europol and has been banned in Germany since 1993.
Despite the ban, the group remains active in Germany with nearly 15,000 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population. Germany's domestic intelligence agency BfV has warned that the PKK remains the largest foreign extremist group in the country, with followers capable of carrying out violent attacks if instructed by group leaders abroad.
