“So I think this is very clear that Turkey’s priority isn’t ISIS at all”.
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There are several Kurdish rebel groups in Turkey, but the PKK – which is active in both Turkey and Iraq – is the country’s most militant. “This is the PKK’s fault – not Turkey’s”.
Turkey’s nightmare is the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria – known to Kurds as Rojava – similar to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
Last month, that ceasefire effectively collapsed, leaving both sides locked in an escalating cycle of violence.
In Makhmour, 10 miles from the Isis front lines, Commander Aso denies that his guerrillas will be drawn away from the fight.
Tensions in Turkey escalated after the PKK claimed responsibility for assassinating two policemen in Gaziantep last month, ending a shaky peace process with Ankara that began in 2013.
“Civilians have become the victims”, he added, in reference to recent PKK attacks near the Turkish border. Kurdish group not against the Turkish state itself.
Hundreds of people since have been killed or injured in clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish security forces. He had regularly visited Ocalan in his Imrali island jail south of Istanbul. The Kurds immediately blamed Turkey because of its complicity in aiding Isis – assistance which has been well documented.
Turkey’s inconclusive June 7 parliamentary elections ended the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary majority for the first time since 2002.
Aiming at the PKK and the PYD will also be a boost for Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which the Turkish government has been trying to topple for years.
But Erdogan rapidly extended the campaign to include the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey and northern Iraq after the militants claimed a series of attacks on Turkish security forces in revenge for the Suruc blast.
Alarmed on the violence, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Celebration (HDP) chief urged the PKK on Saturday to “take away its finger from the set off” and stated the federal government ought to launch talks to revive calm. Mr Fox said parliament must give the government the “tools it needs” to deal with threats to national security, which includes ending the “absurd” situation of allowing bombing raids against jihadists in Iraq but not Syria.
“The president does not want a coalition to be formed”. Demirtas addressed his comments to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, saying, “A coalition may be formed or not but peace is urgent”.
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PKK fighters also fired rockets at a military outpost in the Bulanik district of Mus province, triggering a brief gunfight, security sources said. They were killed in a gunbattle on Friday night.
