Turkey: PM urges Europe to fight PKK drug dealers

ANKARA (AA) - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday called on European countries to step up their fight against the PKK, accusing the terrorist group of “poisoning young people with drugs".

Addressing members of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in parliament, Yildirim said drug dealers' main target is Europe.

"I am calling our European friends to stop bothering themselves with Turkey's legal processes and focus on fighting the PKK and drug-runners who poison your youth and future with drugs," said Yildirim.

"The main target of drugs is Europe and the young people of Europe," said the premier, adding that in Turkey, the PKK reaps around $2 billion annually from drug dealing.

Illegal drug trafficking is the chief financial resource for terrorist groups, including the PKK, according to a Turkish Interior Ministry report shown to Anadolu Agency in June.

The PKK terrorist organization is active in all the phases of drug trafficking including production, delivery, distribution, and sales, according to the narco-terrorism report.

The PKK’s annual revenues from cannabis production and sales are around 500 million Turkish liras ($170 million) and separately $1.5 billion from drug trafficking, said the report.

The PKK reportedly produces heroin in laboratories in its camps in northern Iraq, and sells it to Europe, the report said, adding that members of the terrorist group are also active in selling the drugs on European streets.

The terrorist group also makes money from hashish production in the rural areas of the southeastern Diyarbakir province, which has been the scene of ongoing anti-terror operations against the PKK.