ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Belgium’s Court of Cessation ruled on Wednesday that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is not a terrorist organization, ending proceedings launched in 2008 against a number of individuals and institutions linked to the group.
The Belgian government said it nevertheless continues to regard the PKK as a terrorist group.
Thirty-six people and entities linked to the PKK have been tried by Belgian federal prosecutors since 2008 for allegedly recruiting young Kurds in Belgium and other European countries and taking them to combat training camps, according to Euronews.
Wednesday’s ruling confirmed the Brussels Court of Appeal’s March 8, 2019 decision that the PKK is not a terrorist organization.
The PKK is an armed group which has fought a decades’ long insurgency against the Turkish state for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights in Turkey, which is home to a substantial Kurdish minority.
In addition to Turkey, the United States, the European Union, and Canada consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
‘Historic’ decision
Jan Fermon, a Belgian lawyer who has defended 36 Kurdish activists accused of fostering ties with the PKK, told the pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency (ANF) the court’s decision has “great importance” for similar cases in other European states.
“This is a final verdict which is of great importance for the discussion about the PKK ongoing for a long time. I find the verdict is consistent with international law. It is a fair ruling,” he said.
“I hope it will contribute to a political solution to the Kurdish question at a European level. The court ruling has opened a new door on the side of Europe. It has paved the way for a profound concentration on a political solution,” the lawyer added.
Zubeyir Aydar, a member of the PKK-dominated Kurdish National Congress (KNK) in Belgium, told ANF the decision is “historic”.
“[We have] faced unfair accusations. We were then subjected to operations and arrests. The verdict announced today acknowledges the unfairness that the representatives of the Kurdish people have been through,” Aydar said.
Brussels to continue pursuing PKK
Philippe Goffin, the Belgian Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs, said the Court of Cessation’s decision is “the expression of judicial power, rigorously independent of the executive, and must be understood as such by all the actors”.
“It in no way implies that PKK members can no longer be prosecuted in Belgium. They can be arrested at any time for crimes and other offenses under the Criminal Code of which they are guilty,” he added in a statement.
“The position of Belgium is unequivocal: the PKK is a terrorist organisation.”
Michel Malherbe, Belgium’s Ambassador to Ankara, also said in a tweet that the court ruling does not change the government’s official policy on the PKK.
‘Hypocritical decision’
More than 40,000 civilians and combatants on both sides of the conflict have been killed since the PKK insurgency began in 1984.
Ankara launches regular military operations against the PKK both inside and beyond Turkey’s borders, coupled with diplomatic pressure on its foreign allies to crackdown on the group’s activities and affiliates.
Responding on Twitter, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Belgian court’s ruling has nothing to do with law, branding it “ideological and political” as well as “hypocritical.”
The Turkish foreign ministry said the ruling gave “clear support to the PKK”.
“It has also revealed that Belgian legislation poses an obstacle for Belgium to fulfill its international obligations in relation to counterterrorism, primarily stemming from the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” the ministry said in a statement.
It called on the Belgian government to “take all necessary steps to correct this desperate and contradictory ruling and to continue countering the PKK terrorist organization in an increasing manner”.
