The raids were part of a national effort, with properties in Sydney and Perth also targeted. They were executed by the Australian Federal Police and officers from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The raids were believed to be part of a police investigation into organisations funding overseas terrorists.

The Pascoe Vale office of the Kurdish Association of Victoria was among the properties which were raided. Gulay Baykal, a Glenroy resident and spokeswoman for the Kurdish community in Victoria, said its community now had a bad name because of the media coverage associated with the raids.

"Since Thursday I have seen media articles which say the Kurdish Association of Victoria is using taxpayer funding to support terrorists," Ms Baykal said.

"A majority of Kurdish people fled persecution to come to this country and live peaceful lives here."

Ms Baykal said police should have had concrete evidence before conducting the raids.

"There is a large Kurdish community in Glenroy and Pascoe Vale which use the Kurdish Association of Victoria facility for social events and education purposes. There was absolutely no need to raid that facility."

A police spokesman said the investigation was not related to any terrorist-related threat or incident.

They refused to comment further because it was an ongoing operational matter.

Chairman of the Melbourne Kurdish Foundation Australia, Twana Nwri,

said: "The police had warrants for two weeks but chose to conduct the raid two days before the election.

"It'll take a long time for the Kurdish community to recover from this."