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Kurdish Rebels Carry Out Attack in Turkey, Killing Soldiers Turkey, Responding to Deadly Attack, Launches Airstrikes on Kurdish Rebels
(about 3 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Kurdish insurgents have carried out a major attack in the southeastern province of Hakkari, killing several soldiers in what appeared to be the deadliest assault since the breakdown in July of a fragile peace process with the Turkish state. ISTANBUL — The Turkish military carried out airstrikes on Monday against Kurdish insurgents, a day after what appeared to be the deadliest assault since the breakdown in July of a fragile peace process with the Turkish state.
The Turkish military said on Monday that it had carried out airstrikes on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a day after an ambush by militants in the Daglica area of Hakkari Province, close to the Iraqi border. The death toll from Sunday’s attack was not immediately clear, but a website close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party said that 31 soldiers had been killed. Turkish fighter jets struck 13 targets in retaliation, the military said.
Two armored vehicles suffered heavy damage after they were attacked with handmade explosives, the Turkish military said in a statement, which noted “martyrs and wounded among our heroic armed comrades.” The clashes signaled an escalation in violence in Turkey’s southeast, where Kurdish militants have resumed an insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives over three decades.
The death toll was not immediately clear, but the rebels said in a statement that their fighters had killed 15 soldiers in the attack. Turkish fighter jets struck 13 targets in retaliation, the military said. On Monday, the military said it had launched airstrikes on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., in response to the ambush by militants in the Daglica area of Hakkari Province, close to the Iraqi border.
The clashes signal an escalation in violence in Turkey’s southeast, where Kurdish militants have resumed an insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives over three decades. Government officials said that more than 70 members of the Turkish security forces had been killed since the end of a cease-fire in July. The airstrikes came after two armored vehicles suffered heavy damage on Sunday from handmade explosives, the military said in a statement, which noted “martyrs and wounded among our heroic armed comrades.”
In 2013, Turkey reached a historic settlement with the Kurdish militias, vowing to grant the Kurdish minority greater rights and autonomy in exchange for the cease-fire that brought peace and stability to the volatile southeast part of the country. Government officials said that more than 70 members of the Turkish security forces had been killed since the end of a cease-fire in July.
After the attack on Sunday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu left an international soccer match in the city of Konya early and returned to Ankara to convene an emergency security meeting. No statements were made. In 2013, Turkey reached a historic settlement with the Kurdish militias, vowing to grant the Kurdish minority greater rights and autonomy in exchange for the cease-fire, which brought peace and stability to the volatile southeast.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attacks were aimed at breaking up the country’s unity. Elections are scheduled for Nov. 1, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s Justice and Development Party hoping to regain the majority it lost in the June 7 election. Opponents say that the government’s decision to resume extensive military operations against the P.K.K. is driven at least in part by a calculated strategy by the Justice and Development Party to recapture the nationalist vote.
Commenting on the unrest in a television interview on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the situation would be different if Turks had voted for 400 deputies for a single party in the June election, referring to the number of seats the Justice and Development Party would need to secure an absolute majority.
He vowed that Turkey would continue its military operations against the Kurdish militants “until the end.” He said 2,000 militants had been killed so far.
After the attack on Sunday, Mr. Davutoglu left early from a soccer match between Turkey and the Netherlands in the city of Konya and returned to Ankara to convene an emergency security meeting, indicating the gravity of the attack. No statements were made.
On Monday, Mr. Erdogan said the attack was aimed at breaking up the country’s unity.
“I believe that the Turkish nation will maintain a united and determined stance against attacks that aim to damage peace, security and stability of the country,” he said in a written statement. “The pain of our security forces who were martyred in the treacherous attack by the separatist terrorist organization sears our hearts.”“I believe that the Turkish nation will maintain a united and determined stance against attacks that aim to damage peace, security and stability of the country,” he said in a written statement. “The pain of our security forces who were martyred in the treacherous attack by the separatist terrorist organization sears our hearts.”
In a television interview on Sunday, Mr. Erdogan vowed that Turkey would continue its military operations against the Kurdish militants “until the end.” He said 2,000 militants had been killed so far. Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Peoples’ Party, whose success in the June election stripped the Justice and Development Party of its majority, condemned both the attack and the government’s policy toward the Kurds.
“As killing has no justification; leading our people to death has no justification either,” he said on Twitter. “Death knells that upset us cannot be our destiny.”