ANKARA (Sputnik) — European countries would rather not fight against the Turkish justice system, but against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
"Let me remind you that these terrorist organizations, such as PKK and FETO [Fethullah Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure], have an income of two billion dollars. Greetings to our European friends, who are behind the PKK. Enough of you to fight with the Turkish justice, you'd better do something against the PKK drug dealers that poison your youth — that is their main goal," Yildirim said at the ruling Justice and Development Party's parliamentary faction meeting.
Yildirim added that Ankara was waiting from the European Union not support for the terrorists, but a voice against the "nefarious organization."
On July 15, the Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup was taking place in the country, which was suppressed the following day. Ankara believes that US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen and his supporters were seeking to overthrow the current government. FETO, made up of Gulen's supporters, is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Turkish authorities have also mounted a crackdown against pro-Kurdish politicians. Earlier in November, a number of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members were arrested over alleged links to PKK. A number of EU leaders have condemned post-coup purges, pointing at gross human rights violations.
PKK is outlawed in Turkey as a terrorist organization. A ceasefire between Turkey and Kurdish militants collapsed in July 2015, prompting the Turkish authorities to launch a military operation in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern regions.
