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RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - The U.S. government filed three
terrorism-related counts against a Turkish immigrant
already being detained on immigration charges.
The latest charges, filed Thursday, do not detail
specific allegations but accuse Ibrahim Parlak of
committing, inciting or supporting terrorist
activities, said Greg Palmore, an Immigration and
Customs Enforcement spokesman in Detroit.
The government has said Parlak, 42, once had ties to
the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a group now known as
KONGRA-GEL and considered a terrorist organization
by the United States. He is accused of failing to
disclose ties to the group and a criminal conviction
when he applied for permanent residence.
Parlak, a Kurd, was stripped of his Turkish
citizenship after he was convicted in 1988 of being
involved in a firefight on the Syrian-Turkish border
in which two Turkish soldiers were killed. He has
maintained his innocence.
He was given political asylum in the United States
in 1992 and owns a Middle Eastern restaurant in
southwestern Michigan.
Noel Saleh, an attorney with the American Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan, said he and Parlak were
"very disappointed" by the charges.
Parlak could deported if convicted of any charge. He
has been detained since Aug. 10
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