Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Turkey's prime minister has called on the European Union to take concrete action against the terrorist PKK organization.

"European Union's position on the terrorist group is decisive. But we want to see tangible results from such a decisive stance. There should not be a western-supported terrorist group. We have extradition agreements with many western countries and we want to see these agreements in actual work," Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint press conference Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Anadolu agency reported.

He said fight against terrorism required "an intensive cooperation" and he has received assurances from Merkel that Germany will increase its support for Turkey's efforts to combat the PKK, adding that the relevant ministries of the two countries have been given instructions to work on joint steps. Merkel, for her part, said Germany is ready to support Turkey in its anti-terrorism efforts.

Erdogan has repeatedly complained about European reluctance to better cooperate with Turkey in its efforts to combat the PKK. Before his visit to Germany, Erdogan said on Tuesday that Germany is of key importance to PKK activities in Europe, noting that several PKK offshoots operate in Germany under different names and raise funds for the terrorist group.

On the same day Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek said PKK terrorist organization remains one of the top problems for Turkey. "Europe was the continent which gave the most support to PKK," he underscored in a meeting with Germany's Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on October 31.

Cicek voiced his concerns over PKK's broad activity area in Germany. "According to annual reports of German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, 11,500 PKK terrorists were active in Germany," he noted.

Cicek said that also 2012 report of Europol showed that PKK was gathering an important amount of source and members in Europe, adding that PKK was killing people in Turkey by weapons and in Europe by illicit drugs.

PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union. The group has recently stepped up attacks on Turkish security forces in its three-decade separatist movement which claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people.

The United States also has declared the PKK as an international terrorist organization under U.S. law.

Commenting on this issue, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara Francis Ricciardone said the United States thinks the PKK terrorism must end and they have close cooperation with the Turkish government for this purpose, whether in diplomacy, in law enforcement, or in intelligence matters, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Thursday.

There is an obvious trust issue between Turkey and its allies; the U. S. and the EU, regarding the fight against the PKK. Some Turkish officials in influential positions suspect that the West in general do not want to finish off the PKK in order to keep Turkey from further democracy and economic welfare.

"There is no basis in fact for the tendentious claims that the U.S. is somehow supporting or tolerating the PKK. We support the human rights of all citizens of Turkey, including the Kurds. We do not support terrorist violence whatever its claimed purposes, and in particular we don't believe that the PKK has done anything to advance the cause of equality and dignity for the Kurdish citizens of Turkey. On the contrary, they are killing more Kurds, and otherwise ruining the lives of more Kurds, than anyone else," Ricciardone said.

He said Turkey is a friend and ally of U.S. and they will continue to stand by Turkey in its fight against PKK terrorism while Turkey works diligently to strengthen Turkish democracy for all.