French court convicts 4 PKK members

By Rahmi Gunduz

PARIS

A French court sentenced Friday four members of the PKK terrorist organization to two months in prison.

The convicts aged between 25 and 45 had been sentenced to suspended prison terms on charges of "providing financial resources to terrorist organizations" in Paris on Dec. 7.

The court in Reins made the sentence immediate and fined them 300 Euros ($316) each for not notifying the police of their current residence addresses within a fortnight, according to the L'Union news site.

The court ruled as per the new anti-terrorism law enacted on July 1, 2016, French media wrote.

Turkey has been a vocal critic of Europe for harboring or neglecting terrorist groups.

Speaking at the 62nd session of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly in Istanbul last November, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey, as a victim of terrorism, could not tolerate how groups like the PKK -- an illegal organization in the EU -- could be “comfortable” in European countries.

"Turkey is a barrier between the terror organizations and the rest of the world, especially Europe. If we fail in this fight, if this barrier falls, terrorists will cover the world with fire and blood," he said.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July, 2015.