By RIA Novosti
Ankara : Turkey’s military command has accused some EU countries, particularly France and Britain, of acting in a way that supports Kurdish militants, media reports said.
Turkey, a NATO member with EU membership aspirations, has long sought to put an end to attacks from northern Iraq carried out by militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“The position of and actions by a number of EU countries, including our allies, enable the terrorist organisation (PKK) to look for new bases for operations,” the NTV channel quoted Gen Ergin Saygun, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, as saying Tuesday.
He said although the EU had recently taken “encouraging steps in standing up to the PKK”, the group’s representatives and sympathisers “are conducting propaganda campaigns in the European parliament, as well as in the French and Britain parliaments”.
“Providing support to separatists, including in activities such as these, is tantamount to sharing responsibility with the terrorists for material damages caused to Turkey, and for the deaths of people in its fight against terrorism.”
On November 30, Turkey’s government authorised the military to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, following parliament’s approval in mid-October.
The country has deployed about 100,000 troops on the border with Iraq, according to army sources.
The PKK, labelled by the US, NATO and the EU as a terrorist organisation, has been fighting for autonomy status in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has so far claimed about 40,000 lives.