U.S. keeps Kurdish PKK on its terrorist organization list
PKK female fighters, 2015. Photo: The Guardian
WASHINGTON,— The United States said to continue to designate the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday, “The Department of State has reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended (8 U.S.C. § 1189). The PKK was originally designated as an FTO in 1997.”
“Since designating the PKK over two decades ago, the U.S. has worked with Turkey and other Allies to counter the terrorist threat from the PKK. The United States maintains a strong commitment to our partnership with our NATO ally Turkey, including fighting PKK fundraising operations in Europe and elsewhere” the statement said.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy in Turkish Kurdistan for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. More than 40,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels, have been killed in the conflict.
“Today’s actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that the PKK remains a terrorist organization. In addition to its continued status as an FTO, the PKK has also been designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 since 2001.” the statement continued.
“Designations of terrorist individuals and groups expose and isolate them, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement actions of other U.S. agencies and governments, the statement concluded.
A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974 and currently serving a life sentence in Turkey, has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.
The U.S. is a staunch ally of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syrian Kurdistan, which the Turkish government sees as an extension of the PKK. A foreign policy goal of Ankara is to convince the Washington to end its support for the YPG.
Washington repeatedly said that the U.S. does not consider the YPG, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls Syrian Kurdistan (northern Syria), as a terrorist organization and will continue to support the militant group.
The U.S. has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced the pullout from Syria.
The Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ, considered the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and U.S. has provided them with arms. The YPG, which is the backbone of the SDF forces, has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.
Read more: Letter to US President Donald Trump about de-listing PKK as a terrorist organisation 22.11.2018
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