Turkish official slams Europe's support to PKK

PACE's Turkish delegation head Akif Cagatay Kilic has condemned support to PKK and said opposition HDP has links to the terrorist organisation.

Turkish delegation head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Akif Cagatay Kilic speaks in Strasbourg, January 25, 2019. (@ackilic76)

Turkish delegation head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Akif Cagatay Kilic speaks in Strasbourg, January 25, 2019. (@ackilic76)

In a debate held in plenary session in Strasbourg, the Turkish delegation head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Akif Cagatay Kilic on Friday condemned those who supported PKK's illegal activities.

It came after a resolution titled as "The worsening situation of opposition politicians in Turkey" proposed in the Parliamentary Assembly.

Kilic in Strasbourg stressed that support for terrorism cannot be regarded as political freedom.

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He asked: "What would you do if somebody said Daesh is not a terrorist organisation? What would you do if somebody said Al Qaeda is not a terrorist organisation?"

"I ask you openly what would you do in your countries if parliamentarians, elected parliamentarians went into the streets and advocated for violence and couldn't say a terrorist organisation is a terrorist organisation"? 

He also blamed the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) for "having connections to terrorism", adding that the party is not a representative of the Kurdish people.

Turkey, the US and the EU consider the PKK to be a terror organisation.

PKK is responsible for over 40,000 deaths, in a violent campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years.

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