Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has imposed sanctions on senior
Kurdish insurgency operatives.

The Treasury Department has designated three Kurds based in Europe as
drug traffickers for the Kurdish Workers Party. The Kurds, identified as
Zeyneddin Geleri, Cerkez Akbulut and Omer Boztepe, were the first PKK
operatives designated by Washington as drug traffickers.

“This action highlights the important role that international drug
trafficking plays in terrorist financing across the globe, and should serve as a warning to those involved in illicit activities that threaten the national security of the U.S. and its allies,” Adam Szubin, director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said.

Officials said Geleri, identified as a senior PKK officer, worked with
three companies in Romania to smuggle drugs, particularly heroin, throughout Europe. They said Geleri worked with Akbulut, a PKK operative in Moldova, who used drug revenues to finance the Kurdish insurgency group, with a presence in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

“Omer Boztepe acts for the PKK and is currently a fugitive from Moldovan authorities after being sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for narcotics trafficking activities,” Treasury said on Feb. 1.

In 2008, Washington designated PKK, also deemed a terror group, as a
significant foreign narcotics trafficker. Officials said the PKK has been
producing and smuggling opiates and cannabis through Europe for more than 20
years.

“Drug trafficking is one of the PKK’s most lucrative criminal activities
and it uses the illicit proceeds to obtain weapons and materials,” Treasury
said.

  Adam Szubin, Cerkez Akbulut, Kurdish Workers Party, Moldova, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Omer Boztepe, U.S. sanctions Kurdish insurgents for drug trafficking, U.S. Treasury Department, Zeyneddin Geleri