Tuesday, September 19, 2006
PKK banned by Iraqi government
Security, Politics
The Iraqi government has decided to end the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq, to close all of its offices and prevent it from carrying out any activities. This came in a statement issued by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office today, in which it said that this decision came as many countries consider the PKK a terrorist organization. The statement pointed out that the Iraqi constitution does not allow the existence of terrorist organizations on Iraqi territory.
COMMENT: The PKK, also known as KADEK and Kongra-Gel, is an armed militant group, whose stated aim is to create an independent Kurdish state in a territory (sometimes referred to as Kurdistan) that consists of parts of south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Iraq, north-eastern Syria and north-western Iran. Its ideological foundation is revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish Nationalism. It is an ethnic secessionist organisation that uses force and the threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation internationally by several states and organisations, including the USA and the EU. In August, the U.S. State Dept. announced the appointment of Retired U.S. Air Force General Joseph W. Ralston, a former NATO supreme allied commander, as U.S. special envoy for countering the PKK. COMMENT ENDS.
