UK ‘bowed to Turks’ over Para fighting for the Kurds

A FORMER British paratrooper who volunteered to help the Kurds in Syria was charged with terror offences after Turkey applied diplomatic pressure on Britain and threatened trade links, his lawyers have claimed.

Daniel Burke, 33, was charged with terror offences on his return to Britain after helping the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), an ally of the West in its fight against Islamic State.

Facing a possible life sentence, he spent seven months in custody. But last week, the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the charges after Mr Burke’s lawyers applied for more details about the decision to charge him.

Prosecutors refused to disclose the material and Mr Burke’s lawyers have now accused them of bringing the charges against him in order to appease the Turkish government, which has been lobbying to have the YPG declared as terrorists.

Mr Burke, from Manchester, is considering legal action against the CPS.

One of the charges against him was that he helped his friend Daniel Newey, 27, travel to the Middle East to join the Kurdish resistance.

Mr Newey’s father, Paul, 49, and brother Sam, 19, charged with funding terrorism by sending him money, have also had charges against them dropped.

A CPS spokesman said yesterday: “We have concluded our legal test for a prosecution is no longer met.

“We have therefore offered no evidence in the case against Paul and Samuel Newey and Daniel Burke.”