TEHRAN, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian lawmaker has dismissed allegations that the Islamic republic supported militants of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), Press TV reported Saturday.
Mansour Haqiqatpour, deputy chairman of Iran's Majlis ( parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, made the remarks in response to recent allegations by Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, who accused Iran of backing the PKK.
"Instead of accusing Iran of having ties with the PKK, Turkey should reconsider its wrong policies of interference in the internal affairs of the neighboring countries," Haqiqatpour was quoted as saying.
He criticized Sahin's remarks as "psychological projection," adding that "the measures currently taken by the Turkish government in the neighboring countries, including in Syria and Iraq, are by no means acceptable and they are the result of the wrong policies adopted by the Turkish government."
Turkish officials have recently pointed out that Syria and Iran supported PKK in the region as a reprisal for Ankara's open criticism of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The PKK, which took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey, has been listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.