Turkey condemns Belgian court over PKK ruling

ANKARA

Turkey has strongly condemned a decision by a Belgian court to reject a request by the federal prosecutor’s office to forward a case on 36 people affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to a criminal court.

“We condemn this decision as an indication of an unprincipled attitude and mindset that has allowed the PKK terrorist organization to easily carry out activities until today,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement late on Nov. 3.

Ankara expects the Belgian justice system to take steps to immediately fix the “grave mistake” in this case, which has been ongoing since 2010, the statement added. 

The statement comes after a Belgian court ruled that the activities of 36 PKK-linked suspects and entities could not be considered as terror crimes since the group’s activities were within the scope of an “armed struggle.”

The suspects had been charged with abducting minors from their families in Belgium and other western European countries and handing them over for training in PKK camps in Belgium, Greece and Iraq. 

In 2010, Belgian police launched an investigation into the PKK and raided 18 houses, arresting Remzi Kartal and Zübeyir Aydar, but they were later released pending trial.