Turkey censures Basque parliament bill

Turkey has censured the Spanish Basque parliament over passing a bill that calls for an obstruction to Turkey’s European Union membership bid.
In a letter to Basque Parliament Speaker Bakartxo Tejeria on Tuesday, Turkish Ambassador to Spain Ayse Sinirlioglu expressed Ankara’s discontent over the bill, Today’s Zaman reported.

She stated that the bill, which holds the Turkish government accountable for the murder of three female Kurdish activists in Paris earlier this year, includes serious allegations and misinformation about Turkey and must be dropped.

Sinirlioglu also referred to Turkey’s good relations with Spain and the autonomous community, warning that the parliament’s move could greatly damage the ties.

On January 10, Sakine Cansiz, reportedly a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and two other women identified as Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, were shot dead in Paris.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on January 11 that the murder of the Kurdish activists was apparently over an internal PKK feud and thus an inside job.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.