ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-The Turkish parliament has voted to give more powers and authority to the military by granting them immunity from prosecution for actions they take while conducting operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
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Before becoming president in 2014, Tayyip Erdogan spent much of his rule as prime minister building up civilian oversight of the military.
Human rights organizations are concerned that the new law could make investigating violations more burdensome.
The new legislation can be applied retroactively and any prosecution of a member of the security forces must require permission from the military or political leadership. According to opposition groups, hundreds of civilians have been killed in the previous year of operations.
Rebels opened fire and killed two soldiers near the town of Derik in Mardin province, north of the Syrian border, it said.
A vehicle bomb killed one civilian and wounded at least two soldiers when it exploded near a gendarmerie station in southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Thursday, security sources said.
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The PKK – listed as a extremist organization by Turkey, the US, and European Union – resumed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.
