PKK operates freely in Belgium though listed as terror group

By Anadolu Staff

ATHENS (AA) - The PKK terror group operates freely in Belgium, manifested again by the latest attacks by sympathizers on Turkish-origin citizens in the Heusden-Zolder district of the Limburg province near Brussels.

According to the book, PKK Organization in Europe, published by the Ankara-based SETA think-tank in 2019, the terror group began operations in Belgium and in other European countries in the early 1980s.

The terror group rapidly expanded its organizational structure in Belgium in the early 1990s and turned Belgium into a major hub for its operations in Europe.

As such, it founded front organizations in Belgium, including the European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KON-KURD/ KCDK-E), Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) and MED TV to legitimize and promote its heinous terror campaign against Türkiye.

-Belgium’s attitude towards PKK

In 2000, the Belgian Gendarmerie’s Counter-Terror Department regarded the PKK as one of the major terror organizations that present a danger to the country.

When the PKK was listed as a terror group by the EU in 2002, Belgium swiftly followed course.

But in practice, many competent Belgian authorities have overlooked or adopted ineffective measures in dealing with the terror group and its affiliated organizations.

By and large, the PKK is not only a terror organization that freely operates in the political, social and economic spheres in Brussels, but it also acts like it enjoys judicial exemption.

Unfortunately, Belgium refrains from pursuing a resolute policy toward the PKK terror group, unlike other terror organizations such as Daesh/ISIS.