|
German court lifts ban on extremist
Kurdish newspaper
20.10.2005
|
|
|
|
BERLIN, Oct 20 (AFP)
- 16h45 - Germany on Thursday lifted a ban on a
Turkish-language newspaper with links to the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The federal administrative court overruled a
decision by outgoing Interior Minister Otto Schily,
who had described the Ozgur Politika paper as "the
mouthpiece" of the PKK, a group fighting for a
Kurdish homeland which is considered to be a
terrorist organisation by the Turkish government.
Schily had banned the paper on August 30 and police
raided its offices in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt on
September 5.
But the Leipzig-based court ruled the ban was
unlawful and said there was no reason to prevent the
newspaper, which has a print run of 10,000 copies,
from being published.
The PKK has waged a bloody separatist campaign in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984 in a
conflict that has claimed some 37,000 lives.
Unrest in the region escalated this year after the
PKK called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in
June 2004.
Turkey has long accused European and neighbouring
countries of tolerating PKK activities on their
soil.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 