The 47-year-old man is thought to have been the leader of the PKK in Germany up until June, said a statement.

He had also been accused of having forced a 21-year-old woman in August 2007 to have an abortion after she had an affair with another PKK leader in Germany.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority east and southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.