Police officers attempted to enter and search the Kurdish Community Centre without a warrant, reports Olivia Opara

A Harringay community centre is taking legal action against the Metropolitan Police after officers attempted to enter the premises without a warrant.

The Kurdish Community Centre in Portland Gardens, near Green Lanes, says it filed a lawsuit against the police after specialist public order officers tried to enter and search the building without a warrant on Sunday, 26^th November during an annual celebratory event at the venue.

Circulating video footage of the incident showed officers storming through the gates of the community centre and surrounding the entrance of the building. Parts of the footage shows the moment when Turkan Ozcan, director of the centre, was pushed by officers.

Turkan told HCP that she was only trying to stop members of the centre engaging with the police and that, about three hours later, she found that her left ankle was swollen.

“I asked the officers if they had a warrant and they said they did not and I told them that they could not come into the centre as it is on private property,” said Turkan. “They did not listen and then all of a sudden they just started shouting ‘move back!’, opened the gates and ran onto the property.”

The incident followed a visit by police officers two days earlier – at which the Met says they identified “a flag supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation”. It was this flag which was subsequently seized during the incident on the Sunday.

Ishak Milani, a member of the centre, told HCP that on the Friday three local police officers came to the centre telling members they were aware of the celebratory event taking place and were looking for more information because of “safety concerns” and that on the Sunday, officers told them that “illegal threats” had been identified.

The Kurdish Community Centre denies that the flag which was seized is connected to terrorism.

“It was extraordinary because we were looking forward to celebrating,” said Ishak. “Children, old women and men were scared – terrified, and for what? For nothing.”

A week later, on Sunday, 3rd December, the group staged a protest in Wood Green alongside local campaigners and residents. During the demo, members of the Kurdish and local community said the earlier incident was “a ridiculous show of strength by the police”.

Some believe that the incident had been influenced by recent government talks with the Turkish government, while others fear about what this means for the policing of other ethnic minority communities in Haringey.

In a statement, the Met Police said that during the incident on 26th November its officers “attempted to engage with the group” but were refused entry to the building and that no arrests were made, with investigations ongoing. They have also confirmed officers did not have a warrant.

DCI Greg Coates said: “We know this was a challenging situation for officers and we are aware of footage circulating online showing part of the incident in which a woman was pushed by officers.

“This was done in order to prevent her from advancing towards the officers as they attempted to withdraw from the premises.

“Working with our communities is an important part of our role and officers know that any use of force should be proportionate.

“Officers have reviewed the footage and no misconduct has been identified. We encourage anyone who has concerns to contact us.”

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