Officials in the European Commission allowed PKK supporters to spread propaganda and accepted the so-called report submitted by the terrorist organization's supporters in Brussels on Friday.
With the permission of the Belgium administration, more than 50 PKK supporters met to protest against the Turkish government in Schuman square, where the EU's major institutions are located. Later on, three protesters went to the office of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and submitted their report on the security operations in Turkey's southeast. An official in the office accepted the report following the conversation with the PKK supporters.
Contrary to Turkey's stance in its fight against the PKK and DAESH, Belgium has been a safe haven for many members of various terrorist organizations and ignores Ankara's constant demands for the extradition of terrorists. Belgium's stance on the PKK and DHKP-C has drawn fire from Ankara, as both terrorist organizations are included on the EU's terrorist organization list.
The country have previously hit the headlines with allowing the erection of PKK tents in the middle of the EU capital many times.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Belgium's decision to allow PKK supporters to pitch tents in front of the Turkey-EU summit in Brussels. "They just took down [PKK] flags and posters today," Erdoğan said, describing the response from Brussels as indecisive and insincere.
Turkey has conveyed demands for the extradition of 56 people who have been charged with petty crimes to Belgium. Thirty-five of them were accepted and eight were rejected.
However, considering the figures for terror criminals, Belgium has refused such demands. Ankara demanded 30 terrorists be extradited from Belgium, but country rejected 20 of them while the processes for nine are still pending and one, Fidan Doğan, was murdered in Paris.
Among those for whom Ankara has demanded extradition, most are PKK members, one each from the DHKP-C and Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML) and the rest are from other terrorist organizations.
Turkey has applied for Interpol Red Notices, which indicate those individuals are wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision, to request the extradition of 657 PKK activists. Germany has also rejected more than 300 requests from Ankara for the return of terrorists. Even though Turkey has requested the return of the terrorists, the answer has so far been negative.
