Articles About Terrorist Activities

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continued its activities in the European Union throughout 2012, Europol said in its 2013 terrorism report released on April 25.

Neither the PKK nor its affiliates carried out any terrorist attacks in the EU in 2012, noted the report titled, “EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report.” However, the group continued to conduct activities such as “fund raising, propaganda, logistical support and the recruitment and training of potential fighters,” in the EU. Read the rest of this entry »

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said April 24 that he would pay an official visit to Turkey between May 13 and 15, while also saying that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was still on the European Unions’ terrorist groups list, as the controversial PACE assessment on Turkey sparked debate by changing the terminology for describing the PKK militants to “activists.”

“During this visit I would also like to mention the negotiations between the Turkish authorities and Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, an organization which is still included in the EU list of terrorist groups,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, the President of PACE, in a written statement yesterday, condemning all forms of terrorism. Read the rest of this entry »

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will soon start to withdraw from Turkish soil and lay down arms as part of the ongoing process of finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, two senior militant leaders said in an interview published in Turkish daily Vatan yesterday.

Duran Kalkan, an executive committee member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the PKK, said there was no problem with the withdrawal from Turkish soil at the moment, but added that it could not be completed soon. Read the rest of this entry »

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced on April 22 that its fight against terrorism was continuing, about one month after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared a unilateral cease-fire.
A list titled “News from the Turkish Armed Forces,” was posted on the official website of the TSK, with item one titled “The Turkish Armed Forces’ Fight with the Terrorist.”

“The Turkish Armed Forces’ fight with the terrorist, as stated in laws and in the government’s directive, is continuing,” the TSK wrote, without naming “the terrorist” and explicitly citing the name of the PKK.

On March 21 jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan called for a cease-fire and for thousands of his fighters to leave Turkey as part of a government-led peace process aimed at ending the three-decade-old conflict between security forces and the PKK. Hours later, although welcoming the call, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sounded a note of caution, saying Turkey wanted to see “to what extent it is implemented” by the militants. Read the rest of this entry »

A letter penned by the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, is on its way to Kandil, the mountains in northern Iraq where the PKK’s current armed leadership is located, CNN Türk reported.

The letter reached deputies of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) first, two of whom, Sırrı Süreyya Önder and party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, are currently taking the letter to Kandil, according to CNN Türk.

Öcalan has not given clear messages about the withdrawal of the PKK from Turkish territory, but has written a new letter on the peace process, Demirtaş had previously said, according to Fırat news agency, known to have close links to the PKK. Read the rest of this entry »

Of the 1,500 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inside Turkish borders, 800 need to leave Turkish land, according to a daily Milliyet report based on military and civil security sources. Nearly 300 of them work on the logistical needs of the organization and 400 of them have never been in armed conflict with the Turkish Army, it said.

The other 700 militants could be released after judicial process, since they did not commit a crime apart from being members of the PKK, sources said according to a daily Milliyet columnist and Ankara representative.

Read the rest of this entry »

by Yusuf Kanli,Hurriyet

Is it indeed possible for Turkey to legislate for a special law temporarily providing some sort of legitimacy to withdrawing terrorists and ordering security forces, prosecutors not to take any action against them? This is one key demand of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) gang and its political and non-political “civilian” extensions.

Providing legitimacy to the separatist gang and its members has been on the agenda since the day a “parliamentary” delegation first visited the chieftain serving an enforced life-term on İmralı. Why? One fundamental reason is an effort to make best use of the situation. If the government wants and there is a massive popular support for the initiative then, why shouldn’t the government legislate for a law legitimizing the gang or at least de-criminalizing it? This is an awkward thinking. The aim is to make Turkey accept that all that was lived through since the August 1984 start of PKK separatist campaign was a “war” between Turkey and the “Kurds” and now the time has come to talk about the terms of the truce between these two warring parties. Read the rest of this entry »

An alleged high-ranking member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was detained in Brussels today, Anatolia news agency reported.

Y. O. has been residing in Spain for some time now and was picked up from Zaventem Airport in Brussels, according to Spanish officials. He was reportedly on his way to Tunisia. An arrest warrant for Y.O. had been issued by the Spanish National Court. Read the rest of this entry »

The leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Murat Karayılan, has declared a cease-fire starting on March 23, in a video broadcast during the Nevruz celebrations in Bonn, Germany, according to broadcaster CNN Türk.
“We declare a cease-fire starting on March 23. If the [Turkish] Parliament and government do the legal groundwork for a commission, we could withdraw [from Turkey],” Karayılan is quoted as saying in the video broadcast by the Germany-based Kurdish TV channel Nuce TV and published on a website known to have close ties with the PKK. Karayılan also guaranteed that unless PKK militants were attacked, no assault would be launched, according to daily Hürriyet’s report. Read the rest of this entry »

Public officers released by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were reunited with their families in Turkey on March 13, a concrete step in finding a peaceful solution to the ongoing Kurdish issue.

Eight public officers captured by the PKK were handed over to a group including Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) lawmakers and non-governmental organization representatives in northern Iraq. “I want to assure you that [the release of hostages] is not a result of bargaining. We consider this a positive gesture and attitude in terms of the [ongoing peace process]. We are glad of that,” said Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay on March 12, defining the PKK’s move as a show of good intentions. Read the rest of this entry »