PKK is extremist, terrorist organization, says Germany

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Wednesday outrightly rejected a new initiative by a group of lawyers to reconsider the ban on the PKK terrorist group.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, an Interior Ministry spokesman said there was no reason to rethink the ban on the group.

"The PKK has been classified as an extremist and terrorist organization, and this has been repeatedly affirmed by our courts," spokesman Maximilian Kall said.

"The Interior Ministry sees no reason at the moment for any changes on this matter," he added.

The PKK is classified as an "ethno-nationalist" and "separatist" terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency EUROPOL and has been banned in Germany since 1993.

But it remains active in the country, with nearly 14,500 followers.

Turkiye has long called on its NATO ally Germany to take more serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for its recruitment, fundraising, and propaganda activities.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people.