In ground fighting, security sources said the PKK attacked a military station in Sirnak, a province adjacent to Hakkari, and killed one soldier in a 20-minute battle. PKK leader Cemil Bayik accused Turkey of trying to protect IS by attacking Kurdish fighters.
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The PKK yesterday claimed that attack, confirming that three of its militants had been killed including a suicide bomber and dismissing claims a smaller leftist group had been behind the strike.
Turkey is now pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and PKK militants in northern Iraq and the southeast following a wave of attacks. The U.S. refuses to tell Turkey exactly where its troops are in Kurdistan but has listed large areas the Turks should avoid bombing. “They stage attacks on our security forces on a daily basis, in many cities”.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Negotiators said afterwards that the meeting had been positive and a new meeting, which could prove decisive, is expected later in the week.
The PKK’s armed offshoot in Syria, the YPG, did the same in northern Syria – notably in Kobani – enabling the Kurds to drive the extremist group out of territories near Turkey’s southern border that the YPG then took over.
Also, last fall the Turkish government negotiated the release of 49 hostages captured by ISIS from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq, including the consul-general.
Washington has long been pushing its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey to step up the fight against IS and Ankara’s involvement in the coalition has been seen as a game-changing moment in the fight against IS.
But police found out that Oz and Kara had fled to Georgia early Monday just 10 minutes apart, the official Anatolia news agency said, indicating they had found out about the warrant before it was formally issued.
“Everybody is focused on the ISIL threat inside Syria, and Turkey has said themselves that that’s where the locus of their energy is going to be applied”. The Pentagon issued a statement on Monday noting that they believed Turkey had made a “firm commitment” to fighting ISIS, and that “The U.S. and Turkey are finalizing technical details for Turkey’s full inclusion in these coalition operations”. At least 50 people have been killed in ongoing attacks after a two-year cease-fire ended last month.
But the PKK say Turkey is using its campaign against IS as cover for taking on the separatists – something the Turkish government has denied.
The violence has left a peace process with the PKK, begun by President Tayyip Erdogan in 2012, in tatters.
“Solution process is now in the freezer, because what is being done is pretty much clear”, said Erdogan, referring to increased PKK attacks against security personnel across the country.
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“No way we were giving that up”, the source said.
