Belgian Kurd becomes minister amid PKK accusations from Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Zuhal Demir was sworn in as Belgium’s state secretary for socioeconomic affairs on Friday as accusations of links to the terrorist-labeled Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against her followed on Turkish media.

Demir, a Kurd born and raised in Belgium, became her country’s “Minister for Poverty Reduction, Equal Opportunities, People with Disabilities, Urban Policy, and Scientific Policy,” after her predecessor Elke Sleurs left the position.

She is a member of the secessionist Flanders Party, the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) that is the Belgian governing coalition’s largest block.

In Turkey, where Demir’s parents originate from the Kurdish provinces of Dersim and Elazig, the pro-government, as well as the ultranationalist media, announced her coming to office as Belgium’s support for the PKK.

Newspapers Sabah, Takvim, Milliyet, and Aydinlik among others called Demir a PKK supporter or sympathizer for her earlier attendance in local Kurdish activities in Belgium.

The Turkish media circulated a photograph of her seen in a meeting where a PKK flag and a portrait of the group’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan were hung.

They also reminded that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year accused the Belgian government of collaborating with “terror” for allowing pro-PKK Kurdish activities and marches.

Talking to the public-funded Canvas TV in November 2016, Demir had repudiated the accusations of any ties with the PKK.

Regarding the allegations, Demir explained she was at a meeting for a Kurdish cultural association in Antwerp where she previously served as a lawyer and mayor of the city.

“For years, I advocated a peaceful solution for the Kurds in Turkey,” Demir said, adding she was a “pacificist,” had no sympathy for the PKK, and believed violence was no solution.

The 36-year-old MP for N-VA at the Federal Parliament recently received death threats “because of her fight against the oppression of the Kurds,” according to her website.

Belgium, on an individual basis, does not consider the PKK a terrorist group, although the European Union (EU) whose de facto capital is Brussels does.

She said the attacks on social media were “orchestrated.”

A man who sent her death threats in late 2016 was sentenced to six months in prison earlier this month.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany