EU’s second-highest court rules the EU had not properly justified its decision to outlaw the PKK. Experts say the ruling does not mean the PKK’s exclusion from the EU list of terrorist organizations. An EU court annulled yesterday a decision to place the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the European Union’s terror list, but experts said the ruling does not prevent member states from blacklisting the terrorist organization. The Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance said the decision made by EU governments in 2002 and 2004 to blacklist the PKK and its political wing, Kongra-Gel, and freeze their assets was illegal under EU law.
It is the latest of several court decisions overturning similar EU decisions, on the grounds that the groups added to the terror list were not properly informed of the decision to blacklist them, nor given a right to appeal the decision.
The EU court said the two groups were not in the position “to understand, clearly and unequivocally, the reasoning” that led EU governments to add them to the list.
But an unnamed EU official said a new version of the list was drawn up in December 2007, again including the PKK, which took into account the views of the court in similar cases in the past.
“For the Council [of Europe], the PKK continues to be on the list,” the official said.
The PKK was added to the EU list in 2002, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks οn the United States, while Kongra-Gel was added in 2004. The U.S. and Turkey also list the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Sinan Ülgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, told the Turkish Daily News that the ruling should not be interpreted politically as a sign of the EU’s willingness to support the PKK or to undermine Turkey’s efforts in its fight against the terrorist group.
“This is a purely legalistic matter,” said Ülgen.
He said the EU had apparently failed to inform the terrorist organization in advance of its decision to outlaw the PKK.
“This ruling does not mean the EU cannot outlaw the PKK. The court decision says that the EU Council, while outlawing the PKK in 2002, has not followed the proper procedure and what’s going to happen next is that the EU Council will continue to outlaw the PKK, but will follow the proper procedure,” Ülgen said.
“The ruling was issued on procedural grounds,” he added.
The ruling followed similar judgments by Luxembourg-based court that the EU had failed to give sufficient reasons for listing terrorist groups, including an exiled Iranian opposition group called The People’s Mujahideen.
The Iranian group won a 2006 EU court case annulling their listing by the EU. That case set a legal precedent and forced the EU to revamp the way it decides which groups and people to add to its terror list.
The EU court also recently overturned a decision to freeze the assets of an exiled Philippine rebel leader and the Netherlands-based Al-Aqsa foundation because they were not informed why their assets were frozen - a breach of EU law.
“The ruling has nothing to do with the exclusion of the PKK from the EU list of terrorist organizations,” said Cengiz Aktar, an EU expert.
“The PKK continues to be on the list,” he added.
Gov’t cautious, opposition up in arms
The government, meanwhile, avoided an abrupt reaction to the ruling.
“The information we have received is not very clear. We’ll make a statement as soon as we get clearer information,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was in Sweden on an official trip, told reporters.
The opposition took a sharper tone, with Oktay Vural, parliamentary group deputy leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), declaring the ruling “embarrassing.”
“This decision was made to influence the party closure case [filed against the ruling Justice and Development Party] in Turkey and complicate a solution to the Southeast problem,” he said, urging the government to take a diplomatic stance against EU officials.
The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) called for calm.
“The only way to get the Kurdish card from the hands of international powers is to resolve this problem internally. As Turkish citizens of the Kurdish origins, we favor a solution reached in our country,” said Selahattin Demirtaş, parliamentary group deputy leader of the DTP.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) considered the court ruling as a new game plotted against Turkey by the imperialist powers.
“EU counties clearly revealed this time that they are providing logistical support for the terrorist organization,” said Hakkı Suha Okay, parliamentary group deputy leader of the CHP.