'European Parliament PKK ban must be carried out fully'

ANKARA The European Parliament should fully carry out its decision to ban terror groups from its premises, including the terrorist PKK, said the head of the Turkish parliament's EU Harmonization Committee on Wednesday. "We will live to see who this prohibition covers and how it’s implemented, and how effective it will be," Mehmet Kasim Gulpinar, a ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy for the southeastern Sanliurfa province, told Anadolu Agency. The European Parliament on Wednesday issued an updated list of people and groups prohibited from its premises, including the PKK terrorist group. Gulpinar welcomed the decision, but added: “In principle, this is a decision that should have been made before." He added that Turkey will monitor implementation of the ban. The three-decade-plus campaign of the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. and the EU, has killed some 40,000 people, including over 1,200 people since July 2015. In recent years, through its branches in Europe, the PKK has also organized events promoting itself at the European Parliament, over Ankara’s objections. Turkey, for instance, condemned the placing of photos of convicted PKK terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan at an event last year in the European Parliament. Gaps in the list Gulpinar stressed that the decision would benefit both Turkey and the EU, "if properly implemented." But if not, he warned, “then the sincerity of the EP would be again called into question, more than before." Gulpinar urged the European Parliament to stand firmly behind its decision. "However, some of the most important PKK representatives are not on the list of banned people. "This raised question marks for us," said Gulpinar.