Members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Kurdistan/Iraq. Photo: James Gordon.

An Islamist newspaper in Turkey accused the Wall Street Journal and its “Jewish businessman” owner Rupert Murdoch over the weekend of spreading “propaganda” for Kurdish terrorism.

Newspaper Yeni Akit, which is closely aligned with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist AKP party, based its accusation on an article in the WSJ also over the weekend that discussed a rapidly growing youth organization belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK: a designated terrorist outfit by Turkey but also the U.S.

The paper claimed WSJ is known for its “hostility to Islam,” accusing the paper of helping to spread the PKK’s agenda by interviewing members of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement, which the government says colludes with the PKK.

In the WSJ article, reporter Ayla Albayrak continuously refers to PKK fighters in the flash point city of Silopi, precariously situated where the Iraqi, Turkish and Syrian borders meet, as militants, rather than terrorists.

Yeni Akit highlighted quotes from a 22-year-old female commander, who told the WSJ that the group’s youth arm boasted a growing presence “in every city in Turkey.”

Tensions between Turkey and the Kurdish separatists have intensified in recent weeks, with two Turkish troops and a policeman killed on Monday in attacks Ankara blamed on the PKK.

Yeni Akit has become notorious for publishing hate speech against Jews, the LGBT community, Armenians, Greeks, Yazidis and secularists, among others. While Murdoch has often expressed support for Israel, the paper’s claim that he is Jewish is false.