Editing Kurdistan Workers' Party (section)

====Involvement in drug trafficking====
PKK's involvement in [[drug trafficking]] has been documented since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Glenn E. Curtis|author2=Tara Karacan|title=The nexus among terrorists, narcotics traffickers, weapons proliferators, and organized crime networks in Western Europe|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/WestEurope_NEXUS.pdf|work=Library of Congress|access-date=13 July 2016|page=20|format=Report|date=December 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Turhal|first1=Tugru|title=Organizational Structure Of PKK And Non-PKK-linked Turkish Drug Trafficking Organizations|url=http://mars.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/10137/Turhal_gmu_0883E_11045.pdf|publisher=George Mason University|date=2015|page=91}}</ref> A report by Interpol published in 1992 states that the PKK, along with nearly 178 Kurdish organizations were suspected of illegal drug trade involvement. Members of the PKK have been designated narcotics traffickers by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.<ref name="Narcotics2" /> The [[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]], Germany's domestic security agency, echoed this report in its 2011 [[Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution]], stating that despite the U.S. Department of Treasury designation, there was "no evidence that the organizational structures of the PKK are directly involved in drug trafficking".<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/publikationen/verfassungsschutzberichte/vsbericht-2011|title=Verfassungsschutzbericht 2011|last=Friedrich|first=Hans-Peter|author2=Heinz Fromm|date=18 July 2012|publisher=Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz|page=342|access-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>

On 14 October 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] (OFAC) targeted the senior leadership of the PKK, designating Murat Karayılan, the head of the PKK, and high-ranking members Ali Riza Altun and [[Zübeyir Aydar]] as foreign narcotics traffickers at the request of Turkey.<ref name="Narcotics2">{{cite news|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg318.aspx|author=Press Center|work=[[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Department of the Treasury]]|title=Treasury Designates Three Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers|date=14 October 2009|access-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> On 20 April 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the designation of PKK founders [[Cemîl Bayik]] and [[Duran Kalkan]] and other high-ranking members as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNT) pursuant to the [[Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act]] (Kingpin Act). Pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the designation freezes any assets the designees may have under [[Federal jurisdiction (United States)|U.S. jurisdiction]] and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these individuals.<ref name="Narcotics">{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1148.aspx|date=20 April 2011|access-date=23 April 2011|title=Treasury Designates Five Leaders of the Kongra-Gel as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury}}</ref> On 1 January 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]] (OFAC) announced the designation of Moldovan-based individuals Zeyneddin Geleri, Cerkez Akbulut, and Omer Boztepe as specially designated narcotics traffickers for drug trafficking on behalf of the PKK in [[Europe]]. According to the OFAC, Zeynedding Geleri was identified as a high-ranking member of the PKK while two others were activists. The OFAC stated that the drug trafficking is still one of the organization's criminal activities it uses to obtain weapons and materials.<ref>{{cite news|date=1 February 2012|title=Treasury Sanctions Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Tied to Drug Trafficking in Europe|publisher=US Department of the Treasury|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1406.aspx}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

According to research conducted by journalist Aliza Marcus, the PKK accepted the support of smugglers in the region. Aliza Marcus stated that some of those Kurdish smugglers who were involved in the drug trade, either because they truly believed in the PKK—or because they thought it a good business practice (avoid conflicts)—frequently donated money to the PKK rebels. However, according to Aliza Marcus, it does not seem that the PKK, as an organization, directly produced or traded in narcotics.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marcus|first=Aliza|title=Blood and belief: the PKK and the Kurdish fight for independence|url=https://archive.org/details/bloodbeliefpkkku00marc|url-access=limited|publisher=New York University Press|location=New York|date=2007|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bloodbeliefpkkku00marc/page/n195 183]–184|isbn=978-0814757116}}</ref>

[[File:Raqqa Syrian Democratic Forces 1.jpg|thumb|230px|Following the [[Syrian Democratic Forces|SDF]] capture of [[Raqqa]], YPJ and [[People's Protection Units|YPG]] troops raised a large banner of Abdullah Öcalan in the city centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurdish-fighters-raise-flag-showing-pkk-leader-abdullah-ocalan-centre-raqqa-610840006|title=Kurdish fighters raise flag of PKK leader in centre of Raqqa|work=[[Middle East Eye]]|date=19 October 2017}}</ref>]]

The [[EUROPOL]] which has monitored the organization's activities inside the EU has also claimed the organization's involvement in the trafficking of drugs.<ref name="europa.eu" />