PKK continues to attack border base
The PKK terrorist organization has renewed its attacks on a military base in southeastern Turkey over the past two days. Turkish Armed Forces announced yesterday that terrorists sprayed the outpost with mortar shells and machine gun fire on Monday evening and yesterday morning.
Troops deployed at the base overlooking the Turkish-Iraqi border returned fire. No casualties were reported on both sides while the terrorists fled after soldiers returned fire.
Dağlıca, where a main Turkish Armed Forces base tasked with maintaining security on the Turkish-Iraqi border, has been the scene of a series of attacks by the PKK terrorist organization since the beginning of June. The attacks, which left one young villager near the base injured, indicate a return to arms by the terrorist organization that mostly remained dormant in recent years following the reconciliation process initiated by the government. The attacks have been described as harassment fire - mostly machine gun fire - but their intensity heightened this week, becoming an almost a daily occurrence.
Apart from attacks on military bases, the PKK is also involved in the abduction of civilians in the region. Two civilians were abducted by PKK members from their houses in the Hani district of Diyarbakır on June 22. One of them was released on Monday while the fate of the other remains unknown.
The PKK is based in a mountainous region in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and announced in 2013 that it would leave its mountain hideouts in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
The militant organization scaled down its activities after the government-sponsored reconciliation process was launched in 2012.
Turkey was long plagued by the PKK's bloody campaign of terror for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast that killed tens of thousands over three decades. The reconciliation process is viewed as a relief from the constant threat by the PKK. But the country is still far from resolving the issue, as the PKK avoids settling down and seeks more concessions from Turkey.
Troops deployed at the base overlooking the Turkish-Iraqi border returned fire. No casualties were reported on both sides while the terrorists fled after soldiers returned fire.
Dağlıca, where a main Turkish Armed Forces base tasked with maintaining security on the Turkish-Iraqi border, has been the scene of a series of attacks by the PKK terrorist organization since the beginning of June. The attacks, which left one young villager near the base injured, indicate a return to arms by the terrorist organization that mostly remained dormant in recent years following the reconciliation process initiated by the government. The attacks have been described as harassment fire - mostly machine gun fire - but their intensity heightened this week, becoming an almost a daily occurrence.
Apart from attacks on military bases, the PKK is also involved in the abduction of civilians in the region. Two civilians were abducted by PKK members from their houses in the Hani district of Diyarbakır on June 22. One of them was released on Monday while the fate of the other remains unknown.
The PKK is based in a mountainous region in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and announced in 2013 that it would leave its mountain hideouts in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
The militant organization scaled down its activities after the government-sponsored reconciliation process was launched in 2012.
Turkey was long plagued by the PKK's bloody campaign of terror for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast that killed tens of thousands over three decades. The reconciliation process is viewed as a relief from the constant threat by the PKK. But the country is still far from resolving the issue, as the PKK avoids settling down and seeks more concessions from Turkey.
Last Update: June 30, 2015 19:57