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France’s Lafarge Pleads Guilty to Aiding Terrorists

Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference after the verdict against Lafarge (AFP/Getty Images)
Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference after the verdict against Lafarge (AFP/Getty Images)
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France’s Lafarge Pleads Guilty to Aiding Terrorists

Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference after the verdict against Lafarge (AFP/Getty Images)
Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference after the verdict against Lafarge (AFP/Getty Images)

French cement maker Lafarge, part of the Swiss-listed Holcim, has pleaded guilty in a US court to the charges of providing support to terrorist organizations, including ISIS, during the war in Syria.

Lafarge agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement to the US Department of Justice.

The two companies issued a statement saying that Lafarge SA and Lafarge Cement Syria have accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved, whose behavior was in flagrant violation of Lafarge’s Code of Conduct.

The firm admitted to paying material support to ISIS from August 2013 to October 2014 so its plant in Syria could remain open.

Reuters reported that the admission in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the US to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization.

Lafarge is also facing accusations in Paris of complicity in crimes against humanity.

Lafarge agreed to forfeit $687 million and pay a fine of $90 million as part of an admission of guilt. The total penalty to be paid by the company is $778 million.

Previously, the cement maker admitted after an internal investigation that its affiliate company in Syria had paid groups to help protect factory workers but denied charges that it was complicit in crimes against humanity.

Holcim said that the events related to the Lafarge factory in Syria contradict its values and that these events were concealed from its board of directors at the time of the merger in 2015.

In 2017, human rights organizations in France accused Lafarge of paying $12.79 million to armed groups, including ISIS, to continue operating in Syria between 2011 and 2015.

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".