|
Turkey may step up fight against Kurdish rebels
17.7.2006
|
|
|
|
ANKARA, July 16,
(AFP) , -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan signalled Sunday that his government was
planning a tough response to mounting violence by
Kurdish rebels after 13 members of the security
forces were killed in the southeast over the past
week.
"We have so far tried to handle this issue with
patience... to resolve this problem with a
democratic approach... (but) these are not acts that
one can put up with," Erdogan said in a televised
speech in the eastern city of Agri.
"I have to say that the cabinet meeting tomorrow
(Monday) is poised for many things," he said.
He was speaking after officials said militants from
the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) killed
seven soldiers and one member of the village guard,
a government-paid Kurdish militia supporting the
army, in a clash overnight in the countryside in
Siirt province.
The army launched a security operation at dawn,
bombing the area to which the militants fled and
deploying reinforcement, including elite commando
teams, the CNN-Turk news channel reported.
The incident came after five soldiers died Thursday
in a landmine explosion blamed on the PKK on a rural
road in Bitlis province.
In nearby Bingol, meanwhile, a PKK militant was
killed after rebels ignored calls to surrender
during a security operation, the Anatolia news
agency reported Sunday, citing the local governor.
In Ankara, the higher board for anti-terror
struggle, comprised of senior ministers, generals
and security officials, reviewed the situation at an
emergency meeting, in an apparent preparation for
Monday's cabinet meeting.
The board, chaired by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
who is also a deputy prime minister, made no
statement after the discussions.
The PKK, listed as terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, has fought for
Kurdish self-rule in the southeast since 1984 in a
conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Clashes in the region have been on the rise since
2004 when the PKK called off a five-year unilateral
ceasefire.
Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to resolve the
conflict with more democracy and prosperity for the
Kurdish minority.
The government, however, rejects negotiating a
settlement with the PKK and Erdogan said in April
that he would also avoid dialogue with the main
Kurdish political movement, the Democratic Society
Party, until it openly denounces the PKK as a
terrorist group.
At least 85 rebels and 49 members of the security
forces have been killed this year in the southeast,
according to an AFP count.
Kurdish militants have also claimed responsibility
for 11 blasts in urban centres, in which nine people
were killed and nearly 140 others injured.
In the spring, the army shifted thousands of troops
to regions at the Iraqi border to stop what it
described as increasing infiltration of PKK
militants from safe havens in the mountains of
neighbouring northern Iraq.
The rebels have found refuge in the
Kurdish-controlled enclave since 1999 after they
declared the unilateral truce.
Much to Ankara's frustration, both Baghdad and
Washington have been reluctant to take military
action against the PKK, arguing that their forces
are swamped by violence in other parts in
conflict-torn Iraq.
In late June, the parliament passed a new
anti-terror law expanding the scope of crimes
punishable as "terrorist" acts and introducing
restrictions on the media for publications deemed as
propaganda in favour of terrorist groups.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 