This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/29/turkey-launches-biggest-attack-kurdish-militants

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Turkey steps up bombing of Kurdish targets in Iraq Turkey steps up bombing of Kurdish targets in Iraq
(about 1 hour later)
Turkish fighter jets launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq overnight since air strikes began last week, a government official said, hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a peace process had become impossible. Turkish fighter jets have mounted their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq since air strikes began last week, a government official said, hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said a peace process had become impossible.
The F-16 jets hit six targets in Iraq and were scrambled from an air base in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, the official said. The F-16 jets hit six targets in Iraq overnight and were scrambled from an air base in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Diyarbakır, the official told Reuters.
Related: Turkey: it is not possible to continue peace process with Kurdish militantsRelated: Turkey: it is not possible to continue peace process with Kurdish militants
Turkey began bombing PKK camps in northern Iraq last Friday in what government officials have said was a response to a series of killings of police officers and soldiers blamed on the Kurdish militant group.Turkey began bombing PKK camps in northern Iraq last Friday in what government officials have said was a response to a series of killings of police officers and soldiers blamed on the Kurdish militant group.
On Tuesday, fighter jets also bombed PKK targets in the south-eastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, after an attack on a group of gendarmes. On Tuesday, fighter jets also bombed PKK targets in the south-eastern Turkish province of Şırnak, bordering Iraq, after an attack on a group of gendarmes.
The PKK has said the air strikes, launched virtually in parallel with Turkish strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria, rendered the peace process meaningless. But it has stopped short of formally pulling out. Erdoğan said the peace process, launched in 2012 in order to put an end to the bloody conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK that has killed over 40,000 since it began in 1984, had become impossible to maintain. The PKK has said the air strikes, launched virtually in parallel with Turkish strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria, render the peace process meaningless. But it has stopped short of formally pulling out.
Erdogan, however, said on Tuesday that the peace process had become impossible and urged parliament to strip politicians with links to the militants of immunity from prosecution, a move aimed squarely at the pro-Kurdish opposition. In a special Nato meeting called by Ankara on Tuesday, the US and other Nato members expressed solidarity with Turkey and underlined the country’s right to self-defence, but also urged a proportionate response to the security threat and called on the government not to abandon the fragile peace process, now hanging by a thread.
Parliament is due to discuss the military operations in Iraq and Syria, as well as Erdogan’s call for the lifting of immunity, in a closed session later on Wednesday. The Turkish government said the operations would continue until the threat posed by the PKK was neutralised.
Erdogan initiated negotiations in 2012 to try to end a PKK insurgency, largely fought in the predominantly-Kurdish southeast, that has killed 40,000 people since 1984. A fragile ceasefire had been holding since March 2013. On Tuesday, Turkish fighter jets also launched strikes on several PKK targets inside Turkey. According to the Turkish general chief of staff, the operation was launched following an attack on Turkish military police by suspected PKK militants close to the Iraqi border in Șırnak province. The statement added that security forces were currently carrying out a damage assessment after the air raids.
Western allies have said they recognise Turkey’s right to self-defence but have urged the Nato member not to allow peace efforts with the PKK to collapse. The Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebels were launched in tandem with Turkey’s first ever military operations against Islamic State in Syria after a suicide bomb killed 32 in the small border town of Suruç last Monday, an attack that Ankara blames on Isis. Critics have accused Turkey of using the Isis threat as a pretext to weaken the Kurdish opposition. Turkey’s Nato allies have expressed unease about the operations aimed at the PKK, since the Kurds have been a crucial ally in the fight against Isis both in Syria and in Iraq.
While deeming the PKK a terrorist organisation, Washington depends heavily on allied Syrian Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State in Syria. Later on Wednesday the Turkish parliament was due to discuss the ongoing military operations in Syria and Iraq, and Erdoğan’s call to strip politicians with suspected links to the PKK of immunity from prosecution, a request that is clearly aimed at the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP).
The leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to hostilities on both sides. The HDP has accused Erdoğan of pushing for snap elections at the expense of the peace process in the hope of increasing nationalist votes for the ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP. The party lost its parliamentary majority in the 7 June elections, and the country still lacks a permanent government. The acting prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, will need to form a government by 28 August, but so far the coalition talks have not borne any fruit.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the HDP called Erdoğan’s demand to strip parliamentarians of their immunity “a civilian coup” and called on all 550 MPs to volunteer and have their immunities lifted in response.
“In ignoring the elections results of 7 June, in trying to launch its own dictatorship, the palace state implements a coup that threatens the inner peace of our country,” the statement said, referring to Erdoğan’s contentious presidential palace in Ankara. “We are going through the process of a civilian coup.
“We are calling on the whole parliament. Come and lift the immunity for all 550 MPs. Everyone should justify their own actions. We call on the AKP and the [nationalist Nationalist Movement party] MHP who feel it is a merit to attack the HDP. If you have the courage, if you are genuine, give up your immunity. Everyone’s files, including those on corruption and robbery, should be opened.”
The HDP’s leader called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to hostilities on both sides.
“Hostilities should immediately come to a halt,” Selahattin Demirtaş told reporters, calling on all parties to act with “common sense”.“Hostilities should immediately come to a halt,” Selahattin Demirtaş told reporters, calling on all parties to act with “common sense”.