North Cyprus declares Boko Haram, Elam, and PKK a terrorist organisation

The government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have declared Greek Cypriot political movement, Elam, Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkiye and Boko Haram in Nigeria terrorist organisations.

The declaration was made in the publication of the TRNC’s annual list of illegal terrorist organisations on Thursday.

Elam were one of several Greek Cypriot and Greek organisations declared illegal terrorist organisations in the north this year, with far-right student union Efen and Greek criminal organisation and former political party Golden Dawn also on the list.

Other organisations on the list include the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which has also been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the European Union and Turkey, and the Fethullah Gulen movement, which attempted a coup d’état in Turkey in 2016.

Fundamentalist Islamist organisations including the Islamic State, Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda also featured on the list, as did a small number of communist parties.