BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said the failure of nations to develop a common definition of terrorism hinders efforts to combat it.
During the "Society, Culture and Dialogue Among Civilizations" meeting held as part of the Fifth Europe-Mediterranean Parliament Speakers Conference in Barcelona, Arinc said, "Turkey is facing problems since this definition is not made."
"When Turkey is fighting against the terrorist organization PKK, one of the EU member states is allowing broadcasts of a TV channel belonging to this terrorist organization. Despite Turkey's official initiatives, the broadcast of the TV channel of the terrorists has not been ceased yet."
The Kurdistan Workers Party, also known by the acronym PKK, has been fighting the Turkish government since the early 1980s to create an independent Kurdish state. A number of nations define the PKK as a terrorist organization. Conflict between the PKK and the Turkish army resulted in more than 30,000 deaths, though the level of conflict dropped substantially after the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan by Turkish intelligence agents in 1999.
Arinc stated that Denmark permitting TV broadcasts of the PKK's Roj program have nothing to do with freedom of expression, Turkishpress news agency reported. Because of their calls to violence, Britain and France banned the earlier PKK MED and MEDYA TV channels.
