The 15th International Conference on "the European Union, Turkey, the Middle East and the Kurds" held in the European Parliament in Brussels was nothing more than the public showcasing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
The conference was attended by İbrahim Bilmez, the lawyer of PKK ringleader Abdullah Öcalan, among other terror supporters. Another PKK leader Zübeyir Aydar, who is on Turkey’s wanted list, was one of the speakers of the conference, however he was denied entry because of his harsh criticism of Turkey and his diplomatic efforts.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
Human Rights Association head Öztürk Türkdoğan accused Turkey of not abiding by its own laws in an effort to defend Öcalan. The association’s Istanbul head Gülseren Yoleri absurdly stated that everyone on the streets of Turkey was at risk of being tortured.
“We have heard claims that it is as if they hid torture instruments from the 80s and have started to use them again,” Yoleri said.
Öcalan’s lawyer Bilmez used the conference at the European Parliament to spread PKK propaganda.
“Turkey is no longer a state of law,” Bilmez said, claiming that Öcalan was in solitary confinement in İmralı prison.
Dr. Gianni Tognoni, the general secretary of the Permanent People’s Tribunal, went so far as to call Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “dictator.”
“Turkey has become a geopolitical problem for Europe. But nobody is causing a fuss about what is going on,” Dr. Tognoni said.
