German court jails man for running PKK's finances in Europe

BERLIN - Associated Press

This file photo shows a police raid against a suspected PKK cell in Turkey in 2011. DHA photo

A German court has convicted a man of terrorism charges and sentenced him to six years in prison after finding he ran the finances in Europe of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
                   
The Düsseldorf state court said the 49-year-old Turkish national, identified only as Abdullah S. in line with German privacy rules, was convicted March 6 of membership in a terrorist organization.
                   
The court found the defendant was a PKK leader in Germany over a decade ago before leaving for northern Iraq. It said that, from 2007 until his arrest in Belgium in 2010, he led the finance office of the PKK’s European branch in Antwerp.
                 
Tens of thousands have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 to fight for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey.