The European Court of Justice rejected a petition by the PKK terrorist group seeking its removal from the European Union's terror list, reports said on Wednesday.
The EU General Court, a constituent court of the Court of Justice, announced its decision regarding the lawsuit filed by the terrorist group last year. The decision, in which the terms "terrorist act" and "terrorist group" were defined, affirmed that PKK was a "terrorist organization," referring to the U.K.'s 2014 and the U.S.'s 1997 and 2001 decisions banning the terror group.
The court stated that the PKK's actions could not be seen as part of the "Kurdish people's right to self-determination" and that resorting to armed force to exercise this right could not be considered legitimate. The decision also confirmed the assessment of the EU Council that the terrorist risk regarding the PKK remains.
The EU Council reviews the list of sanctions such as freezing the financial assets of people, groups and entities deemed terrorists and prohibiting the provision of financial resources at least once in every six months.
The PKK was included in the list in 2002. Most recently, the sanctions on the PKK were renewed for another six months in July 2022.
Natural gas, oil ‘theft’
Meanwhile, the terrorist group is also facing allegations of theft in Syria.
Bashar Assad’s regime on Wednesday accused the U.S. and the PKK, along with its Syrian offshoot the YPG, of "stealing" oil and natural gas in the country, claiming that its total loss in the field of energy reached $111.9 billion.
"Foreign and Expatriates Ministry affirmed that the U.S. occupation forces and their affiliated militias continue their systematic looting of the Syrian oil, wheat and other national and vital main resources," the state news agency SANA said, referring to the YPG/PKK terror group.
The regime claimed that its direct losses because of attacks in the oil, natural gas and mining areas amounted to $25.9 billion, while "indirect" losses due to the disruption of production in the area have exceeded $86 billion, the agency said, citing the ministry.
The regime also called on the U.N. to ensure compensation for these "violations."
The PKK and YPG have controlled much of northeastern Syria since Assad's forces withdrew in 2012.
The regions occupied by the terror group in the provinces of Deir el-Zour and Hassakeh have the richest energy resources in Syria in terms of oil and natural gas. The terrorists continue to occupy over 70% of the oil resources in Syria with U.S. support.
While the terrorist group captured the Koniko gas field, the largest gas facility in the northeastern countryside of Deir el-Zour on Sept. 23, 2017, it also occupied Syria's largest oil field, al-Omar, on Oct. 22, 2017.
The oil refineries in the country are under the control of regime forces.
The PKK/YPG has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign in southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria and Iraq for years, attacking security forces and civilians. It has been single-handedly responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.
By leveraging Türkiye’s southeastern border near the Middle East and drug trafficking routes in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Africa, the group has financed its bloody campaign through drug trafficking in the European Union, according to several reports from Turkish and international law enforcement agencies. The group is involved in all aspects of the illicit narcotics trade in the bloc, raking in over $1.5 billion by dominating 80% of the market.
Top ringleaders of the terrorist group, such as Murat Karayılan, Cemil Bayık and Duran Kalkan, are also on the U.S. wanted list of drug smugglers.
In recent years, Türkiye has stepped up efforts to cut off drug supplies to the group. At the same time, Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they carry out attacks against Türkiye.