At this year's 60th NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in the Hague Austrian deputy Peter Pilz called for the PKK to be removed from the EU list of "terrorist organisations". Pilz demanded that the chance previously given to the PLO be given to the PKK.

Parliamentarians from NATO member countries gathered in The Hague for this year's assembly, at which the crisis in Ukraine and the struggle with ISIS in particular were on the agenda.

Austrian MP Peter Pilz made a presentation on the Kurds and the PKK, during which the Green Party MP explained the Kurds' struggle against ISIS and asked the following questions to NATO and the European Union:

"1-Should the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iran and Syria be granted the right to autonomy?

2- Should South Kurdistan have the right to be an independent state?

3- Should relations with the PKK be normalised and the PKK be removed from the EU list of "terrorist organisations?"

Pilz asked for the same chance given to the PLo to be given to the PKK and for relations with the organisation to be reviewed. Pilz called for Austria and the EU to enter into dialogue with the PKK, and for NATO to make efforts to prevent Turkey obstructing this.

Pilz concluded by saying: "Many years ago I met PKK leader Öcalan in Damascus. I am sure that today the PKK will make at least as much effort for the peace process as the PLO."

What is the NATO Parliamentary Assembly?

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly was set up in Paris in 1955 by 158 deputies. In 1966 the name was changed to the North Atlantic Assembly and in 1999 reverted to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Apart from members, parliamentary observers, inter-parliamentary counsels and MEPs also participate.