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Alleged Kurdish PKK members released in
France
24.2.2007 |
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February 24, 2007
PARIS, -- A French appeals court on Friday
freed eight Kurds suspected of links to the banned
Kurdistan Workers' Party, but prevented them from
leaving the Paris area, their lawyers said.
The PKK party is regarded as a terrorist
organization by the European Union, the United
States and Turkey.
"What struck the court is that we showed that French
authorities continued relations with our clients
between 2000 and 2006, tolerating their fundraising,
and that we didn't see how they could close their
eyes to the infractions of which they are now being
accused," lawyers Antoine Comte, Jean-Louis Malterre
and Sylvie Boitel said.
Those released by the Paris appeals court included
Riza Altun, 52, Attila Balikci, 31, and Nedim Seven,
39. They were considered, respectively, as the PKK's
representative in Europe, its secretary and its
treasurer.
Authorities
arrested 14 Turks and an Australian of Kurdish
origin legally residing in France on February 5 and
6 in the Paris region and in Brittany. Fourteen of
them had been remanded in custody.
Two other Kurds were arrested in July, at the start
of the investigation, after they exchanged 200,000
euros (265,000 dollars) for dollars without being
able to justify the money's origin.
All have been accused of being PKK members and are
suspected of having helped finance attacks committed
in Turkey and fighting in Iraqi Kurdistan. They were
also accused of money laundering.
In addition, Canan Kurtyilmaz, 33, the alleged PKK
leader arrested in Belgium on February 5, was
transferred to France a week ago.
One of the Kurds freed Friday had offered to assist
France's counterintelligence service, according to
officials with knowledge of the case.
The counterintelligence service confirmed having
contacts with PKK members, but only "to remind them
that they must not cross the line."
Turkish police welcomed the French arrests and
called on other European countries to do the same.
Turkish newspapers spoke of a "raid" against the PKK
in France and Belgium.
According to other sources, 5 million euros has been
collected in one year from Kurds living in Europe,
with a quarter of it originating in France.
More than 30,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for a Kurdish homeland in the country's
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
AFP
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to some 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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