Articles About Terrorist Activities

Hurriyet

PKK, the terror organization, said three German tourists abducted in Turkey last week are in good health but demanded Ankara halt military operations in the area where they were siezed.

“The PKK is ready to release the three German tourists on the condition that Turkey halts its military attacks in the area where they were captured,” a PKK member was quoted as saying by AFP.  

“The area… is a war zone. We demand that there be a ceasefire in the area so we can release them,” he told reporters late on Sunday. AFP said he is a “spokesman” of the PKK.  

Five PKK separatists on Wednesday abducted the climbers, part of a group of 13 mountaineers from their camp at 10,500 feet on the mountain in Agri, while the other mountaineers returned to Germany.

The Turkish army had launched a wider search operation to rescue the German tourists and Mount Ararat has been declared off-limits until further notice. Mount Ararat, situated close to the Iranian and Armenian borders, is the highest mountain in Turkey at 5,137 meters (16,853 feet) and is a popular tourist destination as it is believed by many to be the final resting place of the Biblical Noah’s Ark. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

The PKK member said the release must be facilitated by an international organization like the Red Cross. “They were detained by a wing of the PKK which thought they were working against the Kurds in Germany,” he said. “Their arrest was a reaction to what Germany is doing. We urge the German government to undertake a new policy towards the Kurds.”

On Sunday, the PKK said it would keep the hostages unless Berlin ended a crackdown on PKK militants and their supporters in Germany, which is home to about 2.4 million immigrants from Turkey, including about 600,000 Kurds.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a personal appeal for the immediate release of the hostages, saying Berlin wouldn’t be blackmailed. 

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the European Union and the U.S. The group has in the past kidnapped people, among them soldiers, police officers, journalists and tourists.

Turkish troops regularly carry out cross-border raids inside northern Iraq, aided by intelligence from the U.S., the Turkish army had launched a ground operation against PKK positions in northern Iraq in February.
 
Source: www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/9432996.asp?scr=1