September 19, 2016•Update: September 19, 2016
By Ata Ufuk Seker
BRUSSELS
Brussels municipality has cancelled an event organized by sympathizers of the terrorist PKK group in the Belgian capital and EU headquarters.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur on Sept. 15 said the event, the so-called “Kurdish Culture Week”, was cancelled, without giving any further details, although the event organizers had previously received permission.
The third edition of the event was scheduled to be held on Sept. 23.
It was organized by Turkey’s opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and some associations known for their affiliation with the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU.
The PKK resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year.
Since then, more than 600 security personnel and many civilians including women and children have been martyred and more than 7,000 PKK terrorists killed.
Turkey has repeatedly criticized events held by PKK sympathizers as serving to promote terrorism.
In March -- prior to the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people -- the Belgian government allowed PKK supporters to pitch tents near the EU Council building amid a Turkey-EU summit.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized Belgium for showing double standards in tolerating terrorist groups, saying they should be treated in the same way as Daesh.
In July, a senior Turkish presidential aide criticized a photographic exhibition of PYD and PKK terrorists being held at the European Parliament.
Terror organizations such as the PKK and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) are active in Belgium and several PKK figures reportedly live in the country.
