ANKARA - Indicating that the European Court of Justice will announce the PKK decision on December 14, lawyer Mahmut Şakar stated that after the legal struggle, the arguments that the EU used as a basis for the "terror list" collapsed and they would not stand behind it.
The decision hearing of the third of the lawsuits brought by the PKK against the European Union (EU) Council's "list of terrorist organisations" will be held at the European Court of Justice on December 14. At the European Court of Justice, headquartered in Luxembourg, there are three cases in total for the PKK to be removed from the list. The first of the lawsuits covers cases filed against lists from 2014-2018, the second 2019-2020, and the third from 2021 to the present. While the Court canceled 8 lists between 2014 and 2018 in the first case, the European Council objected to the decision. The PKK also filed a lawsuit against the lists between 2019 and 2020, and the court combined both cases. Thus, three separate cases began to be discussed as two files. After the hearing on the first file, the decision was announced on November 30. Regarding the third file, the court will announce its decision on December 14. Mahmut Şakar, a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Human Rights and Democracy (MAF-DAD), talked about the litigation process that he follows closely.
DECEMBER 14 DATE
Reminding that the PKK has been on the EU Council's "terrorist organisations list" since 2002, Şakar said: "This list is updated by the EU Council every 6 months. A legal initiative was launched in 2014 on behalf of PKK executives Murat Karayılan and Duran Kalkan under the leadership of a Dutch legal group against the list. Decisions regarding three separate files covering all the lists from 2014 to 2022 will be made with the decision to be made on December 14 but these decisions are the decision of the General Court, which is the court of first instance. It's not a firm decision. Both parties reserve the right to appeal to the higher court again."
DECISION ON NOVEMBER 30
Evaluating the court's decision dated November 30, Şakar said: "This decision was different from the previous decision that was overturned on appeal. In its previous decision, the court had canceled all the lists on the basis of a single argument, as they were not well justified, without even considering the need for a detailed examination. There is no complete rejection in his decision on November 30, but the two went to a separation. The court found the applicants right regarding the lists in 2014, but found the applicant to be unfair regarding the lists made in 2015-2017-2019, and found the European Council justified. All expenses were borne by the loser at the Court of Justice. There is no absolute winner. The court accepted some of the arguments of the defense, but mainly the arguments of the other side. Based on this, the court made the decision that everyone should pay their own expenses.”