Turkey said on Wednesday that it will soon lodge a complaint against Austria at the United Nations regarding the release of a senior leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).
Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman told the press that Turkey will take the action as the Austrian government has not yet given a satisfactory answer following Turkey's initiatives about the case.
Riza Altun, who is believed to be in charge of financing for the PKK in Europe, was detained on July 4 while entering Austria, but later the Austrian authorities allowed Altun to take a flight on July 13 from Vienna to the Iraqi city of Arbil.
Turkey harshly criticized Austria over the release of Altun, a PKK member wanted by the Interpol through a red notice.
Turkey has lodged complaints against Austria at several international organizations, including Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bilman stressed.
He added that Ankara has also officially requested the extradition of Altun from the Iraqi government but could not get an answer yet.
The PKK launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
The outlawed group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has recently increased attacks on government troops that has led to Ankara's mounting intention of an incursion into northern Iraq to crush the PKK.
Source: Xinhua
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