PKK attacks continue to dominate national agenda in Turkey
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E-mail Xinhua, September 19, 2012
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The PKK militants attacked a military transport convoy in the eastern Turkish province of Bingol on Tuesday. [Xinhua] |
The militants of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), listed as terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, continue to mount hit-and-run tactics in the face of large-scale mop-up operations conducted by the Turkish security forces recently.
On Tuesday, the PKK militants attacked a military transport convoy in the eastern Turkish province of Bingol, killing at least 10 Turkish soldiers and wounding 60 others. Ensuing fire that broke out in one bus carrying unarmed conscripted soldiers aggravated the situation, increasing the number of casualties, according to eyewitnesses.
The PKK attacks and government's sweeping operations continue to seize headlines in Turkey with TV stations almost display on a daily basis of the mass rallies being held to bury the fallen soldiers and police officers killed in the line of fire.
According to the government, the PKK has suffered heavy casualties after the start of the sweeping actions. On Monday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that some 500 PKK rebels have been killed in the last month alone, vowing to keep up the offensive until the PKK decides to lay down arms.
The deadly attack on Tuesday prompted an emergency meeting of Erdogan with Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Necdet Ozel to discuss measures to counter the rising PKK threat in the country.
SUSTAINING OFFENSIVE
Some experts believe that the government should sustain mop-up operations for some time to give a breathing space to Kurdish politics that denounces the violence. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, the political wing of the PKK, is under pressure to advocate PKK's violent tactics despite it tries to pursue political solution to Kurdish problem in the Turkish Parliament.
Aytekin Geleri, security expert at Ankara-based Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE), said that, with a strong blow that will break the back of the PKK in the region, pro-Kurdish political parties like BDP will find themselves operating in a much freer environment.
"When the terror threat is neutralized, the BDP can openly take a position against the PKK in violent terror," he said.
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