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Russia Does Not Designate PKK and YPG As Terrorists: Official – Aleksandr Botsan-Harshenko says PKK and YPG are not the list of terrorists in Russia

Shoguna B. Sobir – BasNews – 11 Febr 2017 – ISTANBUL — Russia does not recognize the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as terrorist organizations, said Russian Foreign Ministry official Aleksandr Botsan-Harshenko in an interview with a Russian news outlet Interfax.

“These organizations are not officially on the list of terrorists in Russia,” said the Russian diplomat.

“Besides, we consider every concrete case as terrorist acts depending on the results of the investigation of the crime level of the agents,” he added.

Russia is not the only country that does not designate the PKK as a terrorist organization. Switzerland, China, Brazil, India and Egypt as well as the United Nations likewise do not designate the PKK as such. The European Union (EU) first designated the PKK as a terrorist organization in 2002. However, in 2008 the European Court of First Instance  ordered it to be removed from the EU terror list. However, as of now, it is still on the list due to EU officials’ dismissal of the court’s ruling. While the US designates the PKK as a terrorist group, it does not extend the same label to the YPG, with which they currently work together in Raqqa, Syria to fight the Islamic State. www.mesop.de