Council of Europe said to have terrorist PKK supporters

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Turkey's foreign minister on Thursday said there are some supporters of the PKK terrorist group within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

“This is a sign of European hypocrisy,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Baku, where he attended a trilateral meeting with his Pakistani and Azerbaijani counterparts.

The PKK -- recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU -- has taken thousands of lives in decades of attacks in Turkey, including 1,200 since July 2015 alone.

“Today, Europe’s biggest problems are racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia,” Cavusoglu said.

“We need to demonstrate our strong stance against them,” he added.

Turkey has been a member of the Council of Europe and PACE since 1949.

Reporting by Ruslan Rehimov; Writing Handan Kazanci