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Two Kurdish rebels, Turkish policeman killed in
restive southeast Turkey
17.7.2006
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, July 17, 2006 (AFP) , -- Two
separatist Kurdish rebels and a policeman were
killed in a clash in Turkey's restive southeast, in
the latest incidence of mounting bloodshed in the
mainly Kurdish region, security sources said Monday.
News of the violence came just ahead of a cabinet
meeting during which the government is expected to
discuss a tough response to violence by Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) rebels holed up in bases in
neighbouring northern Iraq.
As the cabinet convened, the Turkish foreign
ministry summoned the Iraqi and US ambassadors in
Ankara for talks on curbing the rebels who cross
into Turkey from their bases in the Kurdish-held
north of Iraq to engage in anti-government violence.
In the latest clash, the two PKK rebels were killed
in the town of Gercus in Batman province in an
operation overnight on their hide-out, after the
pair opened fire on an armoured police vehicle and
wounded an officer, the sources said.
A second policeman was also wounded in the operation
and he later succumbed to his injuries at hospital.
The latest casualty brought to 15 the death toll
among Turkish security forces in five days.
Two soldiers were wounded in a clash Monday with PKK
rebels during a security operation on rural ground
in the eastern province of Tunceli, security sources
said.
In a house raid Monday in Diyarbakir, the biggest
city in the southeast, police seized 27.4 kilos
(54.3 pounds) of plastic explosives, which they
belive were intended for attacks in urban centres,
along with a substantial cache of ammunition, local
sources said.
"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," Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech on Sunday.
"I have to say that the cabinet meeting tomorrow
(Monday) is poised for many things," he said.
In Ankara, the top anti-terrorism body comprised of
senior ministers, generals and security officials,
held its second meeting in two days to review the
situation ahead of the cabinet meeting.
No statement was issued after the meeting, which was
also attended by Erdogan.
A senior Turkish diplomat told AFP that Iraqi
ambassador Sabah Umran and US Ambassador Ross Wilson
were called into the foreign ministry for talks with
undersecretary Ali Tuygan on PKK violence and rebel
presence in northern Iraq.
Turkey says thousands of armed PKK militants have
found refuge in northern Iraq since 1999, when the
group declared a unilateral ceasefire after the
capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
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 of
conflict-torn Iraq.
The issue has become of increasing importance for
Ankara in recent months as clashes have escalated
between the PKK and the army since the rebels called
off their truce in June 2004.
The rebels have carried out several bomb attacks in
urban centres this year.
More than 37,000 people have been killed 1984 since
the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, picked up arms
for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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