Published on - 7/9/2008
THE TURKISH Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said on Tuesday that the terrorist organisation PKK/Kongra-Gel was running guns to the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka.
He also said terrorism was the biggest threat to peace and security in the age of globalization.
The PKK is an organisation fighting for a separate state for the Kurds in the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq and Iran. It has been designated an international terrorist outfit by the US State Department.
Speaking at the \"Silk Road 2008 General/Admiral Seminar\" held in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, Buyukanit said it was impossible to counter terrorism at the national level with national policies.
\"International cooperation has become a sine qua non in the fight against terrorism,\" Buyukanit told commanders from several countries.
\"I think we all agree that terrorism is the most serious sickness of the 21st century although we cannot agree on a definition of it,\" he said. Buyukanit said no type of terrorism should be considered legitimate, no matter what the organisations ideals are.
\"More than that, even tendencies to legitimise terrorism are unacceptable,\" he said.
Buyukanit said efforts in diplomacy, intelligence, economy, finance, information and law were as important as military methods in the fight against terrorism, since terrorist organisations were acting like international criminal organisations and carrying out criminal acts such as illicit drug and human trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, bootlegging and kidnapping for ransom.
\"For instance, the terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel is responsible for 80 percent of the heroin smuggled into Europe, extortion in several European countries, and even running guns to terrorist organisations like the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. These are all relevant when considering the activities of terrorist organisations at the international level,\" he said.
(Turkishpress.com) (Courtesy : Daily Mirror)
