EU Court Overturns Decision to Put PKK on Terror List
Turkish Daily News reports that the European Court of First Instance “annulled yesterday a decision to place the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the European Union’s terror list.” Experts said, however, that “the ruling does not prevent member states from blacklisting the terrorist organization.”
The Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance said the decision made by EU governments in 2002 and 2004 to blacklist the PKK and its political wing, Kongra-Gel, and freeze their assets was illegal under EU law.
It is the latest of several court decisions overturning similar EU decisions, on the grounds that the groups added to the terror list were not properly informed of the decision to blacklist them, nor given a right to appeal the decision.
Pardon me? They were not properly informed, nor were they given a right to appeal the decision? This is insane. Can you imagine Al Qaeda going to court in order to appeal a decision by the EU to blacklist it as a terrorist organization? “We’re not terrorists, we’re mujahedeen.”
Furthermore, the EU court said that ‘the two groups were not in the position “to understand, clearly and unequivocally, the reasoning” that led EU governments to add them to the list.’
Since when do terrorist organizations need to “understand, clearly and unequivocally” why they’re considered terrorists? Aside from that, what’s not clear about “you purposefully target civilians and commit terrorism on a grand scale”? They’re an organization which constantly uses terrorism to further its goals, hence it’s a terrorist organization.
It’s really quite simple o European Court of ignoramuses.
Sinan Ülgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies explained what’s next: “This is a purely legalistic matter. This ruling does not mean the EU cannot outlaw the PKK. The court decision says that the EU Council, while outlawing the PKK in 2002, has not followed the proper procedure and what’s going to happen next is that the EU Council will continue to outlaw the PKK, but will follow the proper procedure.”
Insane.
And too many Europeans wonder why others consider us soft on terrorism. Well, perhaps this entire affair should give us all a clue: you shouldn’t ask terrorist organizations whether they agree with your decision to call them terrorists.
UPDATE
Sigmund gives us the quote of the day:
Giving any kind of legitimacy/credibility to the PKK is like giving legitimacy/credibility to a whore discussing family values. The analogy may be crude, but it is accurate. Decades of PKK terror speaks for itself. Their own behavior speaks louder than any words Turkey might have in renoucing them. The Kurds may indeed have legitimate grievances and aspirations, but the PKK in no way makes their case credible. In fact, they detract from it.
Giving any kind of legitimacy/credibility to the PKK is like giving legitimacy/credibility to a whore discussing family values. The analogy may be crude, but it is accurate. Decades of PKK terror speaks for itself. Their own behavior speaks louder than any words Turkey might have in renoucing them. The Kurds may indeed have legitimate grievances and aspirations, but the PKK in no way makes their case credible. In fact, they detract from it.
For heavens sake. You are right, completely insane.
The fundamental flaw here is treating international law like it really is, well, law. It’s not. Certainly it shouldn’t be treated like normal domestic law.
If that’s not the quote of the day I don’t know what is.
Pat: true although - do you consider it necessary for the Dutch government to ask a Dutch terrorist organization whether they agree that they’re terrorists? Same goes for US and US based terrorist organizations?
That depends, Michael. If you’ve got, say, a charity, set up and organized under the proper civil laws, and the government wishes to seize its assets and make it illegal to donate to them then yes, I think basic due process requires such notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Now, if the organization is not actually a corporation, is not established under the laws of that country, then no, not necessarily, though you would still need to provide due process before seizing the assets of any individual person.
Taking my first example, a legally established charity, I think it would be sufficient to prove through the due process exercise that the charity was funneling money to agents of an organization deemed by the government to be a terrorist organization (like the PKK). I don’t think the government would have to prove that the foreign organization to whom the funds were being funelled was actually a terrorist organization; the government’s designation would be sufficient. But they would have to prove that the charity was funneling money to that group.
I agree with that - but the court is a bit more, shall we say, precise?
Good evening
I ve read the first coment about the PKK i am kurdish person who is not related the any organsation =or politics i am just kurdish civil couldnt leave the house after seen such comments about the pkk. in my eyes PKK is purely who fights for kurdish people rights in Turkey under very bad circumstanes. where they could solve the problem on the table
It may not be the way they should be fighting but that was their last chance of geting some attention for kurdish people who lives in Turkey . People who created PKK was abdullah Ocalan and his 7 to 8 universty friends.
If it wasnt the PKK kurdish people would not be exist because they were getting second class treatment which was so wrong. unsulted for been kurds.
Thats why so many young boys and girls left away their village and join them, because in their own land they couldnt get what human needs and have peace which is sad. we are all same, no body better then others every body should be equely same and not to be treated by religion or nation.
They are no schools, no Hospitals libarys no museum, it may sound funny they are some villages havent got electric or water.
Reason i wanted to comment was INSANE? Alqueda ?
to me alqueada is not a nation,Alqueda its some body or some people who brain wash people and get them to do what they want, for money and only people who would do that for them would be peoplewho didnt get enough education or didnt get it at all. So u cant say its like PKK.
PKK were suported by people who lives in Turkey and who lives in euro.
To me traveling is worlds best education, gives us benefit of knowing each other knowing each other culture so we have rispect to each others. its free world lets live together in peace way , we must look at the all picture and understand each others they are lots of way living your life.
PKK is 25 millions of people possible even more who lives in Turkey under unfair goverment system. its not a nutter goes round and brain wash people and get them kill people.
I wish you all best all and peace for kurdish people in turkey and people who dont get human treatment in our world
we should fight for human nature only
I wish you all best
God bless you all
Let me tell you about what I have seen and lived during my 30 years in Turkey. First off, nobody has pure blood and it is this mix-nature of people that makes it richer in its culture and makes it a very distinct experience living in Turkey. I feel blessed to have been born as a Turk and lived in this ethnically rich atmosphere. My grandmother was Kurdish, I grew up in Ankara within a middle class intellectual family built by a proud father who managed to become an engineer by working on constructions, doing dishes, sleeping on the cold concrete floor and also sending money to his family living in an Anatolian village and a Cypriot mother who had to migrate to Turkey to avoid predictable ugly series of events that followed early atrocities committed towards Turkish minority in 1950s. Living in this survivor family gave me a sense of understanding the world around me through the virtues of respecting every individual’s civil rights, appreciative of freedom of belief in one religion or none and of that very freedom won by blood, courage and wit, that moulded people of Turkey to have the common goal of becoming a civilized nation. The process of becoming such a respected civilized nation has been a particularly hard goal to achieve considering the hundreds of years of oppression on scientific and socialistic advancement due to Ottoman monarchy built on top of blind obedience of its people to religion. Kurds along with very many other ethnic people of Turkey were the subject of this process. The outcome of this process to this day is a partial success at best in terms of its lack of producing intelligent, able political leaders, its ineptitude of establishing wealth sharing that resulted in judicial system break-down to be harassed and stagnated by corrupt government officials, gaps in local authority only to be filled by feudal powers to count a few. As someone who believe the undeniable benefits of the success of this goal, I started to criticize the malfunctioning aspects of governance in Turkey, in my voice, within my own civil rights that can not verbally or physically abuse any other citizen only to defend what I believe in by sticking to democratic norms and practices. I’d like to give a vivid example of one in so many incidences from my life; it was after a week of my son’s birth. I went to the Census Bureau only to get my son’s birth certificate. The laws and certificate were such that there was a column that had to be filled in the document as-to the religion of my son. I strongly objected to fill and associate such an attribute with a-week-old baby. It was so wrong to the very fundamentals of the "process" that I highly regarded as the best way to pursue for the good of our nation. When I rejected to write anything for my son’s religious preference, the officials argued with me that whatever I believe must have been written there and that I can not leave it empty and if I do, it’ll mean the same as denial of citizenship of my son. I was frustrated and angered at the authorities and after a long exhaustively heated verbal exchanges, I returned home only to have the task accomplished later by my beloved father. I did not shoot anyone, nor I denied my citizenship. I wanted to believe in the success of this so-called process for my nation and I still am. The question is as Turkish citizens, only if you admit to be one before you answer, would you be willing to work on correcting it within the guidelines of democratic principles? For those living in the dream of carving portion of our country, there is only one response as it would be anywhere in the world, that is the right to defend our nation against perpetrators until PKK and its sympathizers are all crushed. For those who want to live together and fight for upholding the very principles of a civilized nation, raising our standards of living, eliminating religious fundamentalism and to correcting any malfunctioning democratic civil liberties, I’ll be with them, there is no wrong in doing that.
Well said JP. Murat kardes thinks that there is no Al-Qaida-like indoctrination in the case of PKK. Maybe he should think some more on that.
The PKK blows up civilians, and targets tourist areas. They’ve attacked embassies in the past. They are a terror group, just like the Tamil Tigers and Al Qaeda.
turkey terorist not pkk…. turkish army, police & goverment attact to kurdish civilians… pkk will be start full fight to turkey all world come together cant be help turkey !! pkk want peace kurdsh people want to peace not turkish army or goverment thats why terorist turkey !!
long live pkk long live ocalan
Hundreds of Kurdish civilians are killed each year by the Turkish governments draconian reactions to protest, freedom of speech, and the right of peaceful assembly. Look at the videos from this years newroz for example (they all over youtube), in which old women and children are brutally beaten in front of television crew cameras. The entire Kurdish region lives under martial law, the police/military are authorized to use deadly force at any time, and extrajudicial killings by the government resulted in the deaths of thousands around a decade ago, and to a more limited extent, are ongoing even today(e.g. read Amnesty International Reports).
Not to mention the bombing and burning of more than four thousand Kurdish villages in the early 90’s, which the Turkish gov. still has the gall to blame on the PKK, much as they blame the Armenian genocide on the Armenians…
I guess everyone here missed the making of guerrilla.