Ankara hails UK move to add PKK aliases in terror list

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey on Feb. 29 welcomed the U.K. move to include the two aliases of the PKK terror group in the list of terrorist organizations.

“We welcome the entry into force on 28 February 2020 of the regulation which includes the incorporation of TAK and HPG, both extensions of PKK/KCK, as alias of the said terrorist organization to the terrorist organizations list of the U.K.,” Hami Aksoy, spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said in a written statement.

Aksoy noted that it is typical for the PKK to use such “labels in order to avoid responsibility for heinous attacks targeting civilians and disguise its relation to various acts of terrorism.”

“It is, therefore, important to clearly put forth that these labels are the alias of PKK”, he said.

“In view of the U.K.’s regulation as a precedent, we consider that making a similar update in the lists of terrorist organizations of our other allies and the EU is a requirement brought by the international cooperation on countering terrorism,” he stressed.

The regulation to proscribe other names used by the PKK terror group entered into force following its approval at the U.K. parliament.

Those who are a member or support the banned organizations can be subject to a prison sentence up to 10 years in the U.K.

TAK terror group is known as the PKK’s urban extension, while the HPG is known as its rural offshoot.

TAK is also listed as PKK’s extension in the U.S., while it is included as a group separate from PKK in the EU’s terror groups list.