PKK not supported in Germany, German Minister says

ISTANBUL

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German Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has denied claims by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Germany is not supporting the struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), reported daily Hürriyet.

"Germany is certainly not a country where terrorists can take refuge and hide. PKK militants are considered "members of a terrorist organization" according to German laws. We do all that the law demands and there are numerous cases on the issue in our country. The judgments and Germany's struggle against these criminals will continue," she said in the Turkish capital Ankara today.

Erdoğan had earlier said that Germany's efforts in the struggle against the PKK were inadequate.

Meanwhile, Schnarrenberger, responding to journalists' questions, declined to comment on the Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) case, one of the biggest embezzlement cases in German history, in which at least 17 million euros of charity donations collected from Turks in Germany was transferred to Turkey for commercial activities.

"It wouldn't be appropriate for me to talk as a foreign minister about a case that has not concluded yet in Turkey," she said.

Schnarrenberger is currently in Ankara making a series of diplomatic visits.