Actually, The State Department Still Considers Kurdish Militants A Terrorist Group

I have made reference in recent days to the fact that the State Department previously considered the PKK (Kurdish militants) to be a terrorist organization.

In fact, when searching for the 2014 State Dept list of known terrorist organizations, I learned something fairly surprising. The PKK was never taken off the list of terrorist organizations.

Here is what the listing for the PKK says as of 01 March 2019:

State Department Maintains Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Designation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

The Department of State has reviewed and maintained the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended (8 U.S.C. § 1189). The PKK was originally designated as an FTO in 1997.

Since designating the PKK over two decades ago, the United States has worked with Turkey and other Allies to counter the terrorist threat from the PKK. The United States maintains a strong commitment to our partnership with our NATO ally Turkey, including fighting PKK fundraising operations in Europe and elsewhere.

Today’s actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that the PKK remains a terrorist organization. In addition to its continued status…