Turkish minister slams Germany over pro-PKK rally

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA

Turkish EU minister on Saturday criticized German authorities for allowing a Turkish opposition party to hold a rally he said was organized by supporters of PKK terrorist organization.

In a message posted on Twitter, Omer Celik said Germany’s permission "is not compatible with a genuine notion of democracy and law. A terrorist show has been staged on the permission of German authorities."

His remarks came hours after Turkey's opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which government accused of being a political front for PKK, held a rally in German city of Cologne on Saturday.

Almost a thousand PKK supporters gathered in Neumarkt square in Cologne, a spokesman for the German police told Anadolu Agency. The police did not allow the PKK symbols and banners during the rally. However, the group chanted slogans against Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Permission granted by official authorities to such terrorist activities which in fact should be fought against in the name of democracy and law only means that terror is patronised. This cannot be explained away with any justification whatsoever," Celik said.

Celik said the German authorities' "patronizing terrorism" was an attack on their own democracy.

"Democracies which discriminate between terrorist organizations as good or bad ones only weaken their own legitimacy."

Celik said PKK terrorist organization was patronized on the permission of German authorities which "openly allow a terrorist organization to organize an activity in the midst of Europe."

"The notion of democracy and law of the ones who grant permission to such activities only equals to terrorist organizations’ notion of democracy and law," Celik stated.

Terrorism is a crime against humanity, Celik said, adding that "the ones who allow a terrorist show cannot claim that they fight with the crimes against humanity."

The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but it remains active, with nearly 14,000 followers in the country.

Ankara has long criticized Berlin for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for their fundraising, recruitment, and propaganda activities.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, the PKK has waged a wide-ranging terror campaign against the Turkish state since the mid-1980s, in which an estimated 40,000 people have been killed.