Dan Boyle
Question:171 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason additional Kurdish representative organisations have been placed on the EU list of terrorist organisations. [13444/04]
View answerTuesday, 11 May 2004
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The European Council took a unanimous decision to include KADEK and KONGRA-GEL on the EU list of terrorist organisations, as aliases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, on 2 April 2004. The PKK had previously been designated by the EU as a terrorist organisation on 2 May 2002.
Inclusion on the list is based on the criteria set out in Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, which was adopted on 27 December 2001. These criteria include, inter alia, acts such as attacks on a person’s life which may cause death, attacks upon the physical integrity of a person, kidnapping or hostage taking, causing extensive damage to a government or public facility, directing a terrorist group or participating in the activities of a terrorist group or funding its activities where committed with the aim of seriously intimidating a population, or unduly compelling a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act, or seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation. The relevant bodies within the Council considered the status of KADEK and KONGRA-GEL carefully, and were satisfied that there was a sufficient basis to conclude that they meet the criteria for designation.