European Union Parliamentarian: Terrorist Label on the PKK has Political Motivations

Published by Kurdish Question 24 February 2016

ANF – Brussels

Italian parliamentarian in the Confederal Group of the European United Left Barbara Spinelli has stated that the designation of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a ‘terrorist organisation’ has political motivations.

Speaking during the press release that was held as part of the campaign in the European Parliamentarian for the removal of the PKK from the European Union’s (EU) list of ‘terrorist organisations,’ Spinelli emphasised that the Turkish state had an obsession with Kurdish people and was carrying out savagery in Kurdistan. Spinelli said a search for justice was independent of time and space while also adding that Turkey was attacking Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in the Middle East.

The petition campaign signed by 114 parliamentarians so far is demanding the removal of the PKK, a crucial actor in the democratic and peaceful solution of the Kurdish issue, from the EU’s list of terrorist organisations.

In response to a journalist who recalled the recent blast in Ankara, Cypriot parliamentarian Costas Mavrides stated that the Turkish President Erdoğan was capable of doing anything to prove himself right, including killing his own citizens. Mavrides recalled that the US does not view the People’s Protection Units (YPG) as a terrorist organisation, and stated that the Turkish state was trying to create the grounds for its bombardment of Rojava.

In response to a question suggesting that the majority of Turkish citizens were against the PKK, Italian parliamentarian Barbara Spinelli said that the majority of Italians supported Musollini but worked with revolutionary forces soon afterwards. Spinelli said that a similar situation could be seen in the case of IRA in Ireland, and the situation in Turkey was no different. Spinelli also stated that Russia and the US had come to an agreement regarding Rojava, and that Turkey’s attacks could intensify because it is cornered and its policies have failed.

In response to a question about how European countries such as Germany and France could stop supporting Erdoğan’s war policies, Cypriot parliamentarian Mavrides stated that Erdoğan was threatening European ministers with the refugee crisis. Mavrides said that given the geopolitical significance of the region, Europeans should support peoples like the Kurds as opposed to the regime in Turkey. Mavrides added that supporting Kurdish people would both save more lives and be consistent with the Republican values of Europe.

Edited by Kurdish Question

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