​​​​​​​Belgian Peace Movement spokesman: PKK should be removed from terrorist list

 Twenty-nine politicians, writers, intellectuals, peace activists, lawyers, and artists formed the International Justice for the Kurds Initiative.

 Among these personalities are the Nobel Prize-winning writer Elfriedi Jeline, politician Slavoj žek and international law expert Professor Norman Pais, Secretary-General of the European Union Civil Commission EUTCC Professor Michael M.  These figures launched a campaign to remove the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from the European Union's terrorist list.

 The initiative stated that the current stage and objective facts require the removal of the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations, and added, "For the sake of peace, democracy and human rights, we call on the Council of the European Union to remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations."

 Belgian Peace Movement spokesman Ludo de Brabander, who is involved in the initiative, spoke to our agency about the initiative.

 Ludo de Brabandar stated that the PKK is listed as terrorism for political reasons, and said: “Erdogan needs enemies in order to maintain his authoritarian nationalist regime. The Turkish state has been using terrorism for several years to silence and suppress dissent. It uses this approach to remove elected mayors from their posts.  and replace them with whomever you choose.

 'Migrants are being exploited against the PKK'

 Ludo de Brabander noted that Europe has always dealt with the Turkish state because of refugees, adding: “For NATO, Turkey is an important ally in the face of two geostrategically important regions (Central Asia and the Middle East) that should not fall into the hands of Russia. That is why the West allows Erdogan to wage his "war on terror" and to keep the PKK on the terrorist list.

 Ludo de Brabander said that the Kurdish issue cannot be resolved without the PKK, adding: "Negotiations with the PKK and a political agreement are prerequisites for peace in Northern Kurdistan and north and east Syria," and this is what constitutes an obstacle for Erdogan to maintain power.  In 2015, after the end of the negotiation process with the PKK, genocidal attacks were carried out on Kurdish cities, and this revealed the truth of Erdogan’s approach.”

 Brabandar continued his speech by saying that keeping the PKK on the “terror list” of the United Nations is considered duplicity, and also added: “The PKK supports the Syrian Democratic Forces in fighting ISIS. The PKK has been calling for peace since 1993. It is a military movement that adheres to the principles of  the international law of war and human rights . In my country, Belgium, the courts have repeatedly ruled that the Turkish-Kurdish conflict is an armed conflict and therefore not subject to terrorism law.

 In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that the PKK should not be on the terrorism list, and the decision was later overturned due to many flimsy pretexts.  Therefore, there is no reasonable choice before the United Nations and the European Court but to recognize that the PKK is not a terrorist organization."

 'The PKK should be removed from the terror list'

 Ludo de Brabander said the list was reformulated for political purposes, adding: "It is time for intellectuals, journalists, politicians and political parties living in different countries to take an active role in order to remove the PKK from the terrorist list."

 Ludo de Brabander also called on UN member states to open new cases to remove the PKK from the list, and added: "As in Belgium, I hope that other European Union countries that have realized that the PKK is not a terrorist organization will act in order to  Remove the PKK from the terrorist list.

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 ANHA