PKK attacks MHP's southeastern Şırnak provincial office


The Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) provincial office in southeastern Şırnak was attacked by PKK terrorists Wednesday.

The terrorists opened fire on the MHP provincial office building but no casualties were reported, MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçın confirmed.

"According to the news we received tonight [Wednesday], the MHP provincial office in Şırnak came under fire from armed terrorists. Fortunately, there was no death or injury," he said.

In a Twitter message, Yalçın described the attack as "a part of a planned action of intimidation and provocation" following the bomb attack targeting a police bus in Adana.

Earlier Wednesday, five people were injured after a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) hit the bus in Adana's Yüreğir district.

Adana Gov. Mahmut Demirtaş said four civilians and a policeman were injured in the attack.

Yalçın added that these attacks are an indication of the PKK's desperation and exhaustion after it was dealt a heavy blow by Turkey's counterterrorism operations.

Turkish security forces regularly carry out counterterrorism operations in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey, where the PKK has attempted to establish a strong presence.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are also carrying out cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they carry out attacks on Turkey, particularly targeting high-level terrorists.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against the Turkish state, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

As a result of the ongoing counterterrorism operations, significant achievements have come in the region as the peaceful environment after the expulsion of PKK terrorists triggered a significant increase in university students.

The number of students in the province, one of the places that had suffered the most from PKK terrorism, dwindled to 1,155 in 2016 due to the terrorist organization's strategy of carrying the clashes into city centers by digging ditches, erecting trenches and placing explosive on the roads.

However, the terrorists have been expelled from city centers with successful counterterrorism operations between 2015 and 2016. In a short time, life returned to normal in those provinces through the efforts of the government. The number of students at Şırnak University, for example, has reached 3,115 as most of the faculties have started their new education year with 100% capacity.

Emphasizing that terror acts startled academics and students in past, the General Secretary of Şırnak University İbrahim Baz told Anadolu Agency (AA) that currently, students from 65 provinces have opted the university for their higher education and the number of academics has risen from 162 to 290 in four years. He added that new departments have been opened and the university also aims to establish a medical faculty.

In 2015 and 2016, brutal actions by the PKK caused the key provinces in southeastern Anatolia to suffer from terrorist activities. When peace finally came, the provinces were faced with heavily damaged cityscapes, as infrastructure and public spaces, such as schools and mosques, were no longer functional.

Today, these provinces have been revived thanks to reconstruction by the state, leaving memories of the PKK's terrorist activities behind. So far, thousands of houses, workplaces, mosques and schools have been restored by various state institutions, under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.