ياشاسين آذربايجان - Long live Azerbaijan

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A senior leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Europe took a flight from Austria to Arbil in northern Iraq after traveling to Vienna from France, where he faced travel restrictions due to a pending court trial on terror-related charges.

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The itinerary of Rıza Altun, who is believed to be in charge of financing of the PKK, comes amid growing Turkish concerns that European countries are turning a blind eye to PKK activities on their soil and that this is likely to deepen mistrust on the part of the Turkish public.

Altun was detained in France as part of a French investigation, which began last July when two members of the terrorist group were captured trying to change 200,000 euros into dollars at an exchange bureau in France. The investigation, dubbed “İmralı” — a reference to the island off İstanbul where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is serving a life sentence — later culminated in a crackdown on the group in February when the French police detained 16 people, including Altun and other senior leaders of the group in Europe. He was later released pending trial and authorities banned him from traveling out of the Paris region.

But the restrictions apparently did little to stop him; Altun popped up in Vienna, where he was detained on July 4 reportedly for carrying a false passport. Austrian authorities did not inform France or Turkey, where he is sought on terror charges, about Altun’s detention, Today’s Zaman learned. Altun remained in detention for some time. He then took an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Arbil in northern Iraq on July 13.

Turkey accuses Iraqi Kurdish leaders running northern Iraq of supporting the PKK by providing logistics backing and arms. A few thousand armed PKK militants are based in mountain camps in northern Iraq, and Turkey has warned Iraqi and US officials that it would resort to a cross-border operation if they do not take any action against the terrorist group.

Ankara has frequently blamed Europe for turning a blind eye to PKK activities and tolerating its fund-raising and propaganda efforts, despite the fact that the PKK is on a list of terrorist organizations of the EU.

Sources said Altun’s escape to Vienna and later to Arbil have already caused troubles between Paris and Vienna. French officials dealing with the PKK case in Paris were angry at the Austrian laxness, and sources say France may even lodge an official warning against Austria.

Austrian Interior Ministry officials deny responsibility in connection with Altun’s scandalous trip to Arbil and have tossed the ball into the Justice Ministry’s court. Austrian sources contacted by Today’s Zaman say the Austrian decision to ignore the French restrictions on Altun and Turkish appeals to Interpol for his arrest and to allow him to leave the country like a free man reveals a “political attitude.”

Sources said Altun was told by Austrian authorities to leave Austria and go wherever he wanted outside the European Union. In the past, reports said Altun traveled to Italy and back to Paris but no legal action followed. Meanwhile, in Paris, police toughened restrictions on other PKK members after discovering they had violated restrictions imposed by the court. Police last week carried out dawn raids on the houses of two PKK members who were detained together with Altun in February, namely Nedim Seven and Canan Kurtyılmaz, after it emerged that they had taken part in a pro-PKK demonstration in Paris. The two were brought to the anti-terror unit of the police for interrogation, following which they were released.

The French court’s decision to release the detained PKK members took even prosecutors of the case aback. The decision, which critics said showed political involvement in this legal matter, led to disappointment in Turkey. Authorities from the French Justice Ministry then stressed that the PKK’s disclosure of its connection with the French Intelligence Agency (DST) had an impact on the release decision.zaman

, Voice of a Nation

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