Turkish soldiers on patrol near the Turkey-Iraq border (Photo: AFP)Kurds' Attack Kills 15 Soldiers, Turkey Reports
-- International Herald Tribune
-- International Herald Tribune
ISTANBUL: Fifteen Turkish soldiers were killed and at least 20 injured in an attack by Kurdish separatist rebels in the mountainous border area in eastern Turkey, the Turkish authorities said Saturday.
The soldiers were killed Friday night in an attack on the Aktutun border post in Semdinli, a district that borders Iran and Iraq, the Turkish military said. Twenty three Kurdish fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, were also killed.
The attack was the deadliest since last October, when Kurdish fighters killed 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush near the town of Daglica. That attack touched off a major political confrontation between Turkey and Iraq, where some rebels hide. Turkey bombed targets there, over Iraqi objections, and later sent troops in, but abruptly withdrew them eight days later, under U.S. pressure.
Turkey, a NATO member, has been fighting Kurdish separatists in its southeast since the 1980's. Kurdish rebels want greater autonomy for Turkey's minority Kurdish population, a condition that the Turkish government says would lead to secession. The conflict has died down substantially since the bloody days of the 1980s and '90s.
Read more ....
More News On The Conflict Between Turkey
And Its Kurdish Population
And Its Kurdish Population
Kurdish Rebels Kill 15 Turkish Soldiers -- Voice Of America
Rebel-army fighting kills 38 in Turkey's southeast -- AFP
Dozens killed as Turkish troops clash with Kurds -- LA Times
38 killed in war zone attack -- News.com
15 soldiers killed in PKK attack in southeastern Turkey -- China Daily
15 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK -- Washington Post
FACTBOX-Who are the PKK? -- Reuters
3 comments:
Both United States and EU countries labels PKK as a terrorist organisation but the western media still insists on labeling these terrorist as rebels. It is hard to understand. Turkey wants from their allies and their media to respond these men not as rebels but as terrorist. What happened yesterday is a terrorist attack.
Muslim on Muslim fighting, neither particularly for any Islamic purpose; but both use Islamic rights as reasons to fight, not recognizing that both were setup by the very same countries and people(s) that claimed to be there allies/friends to begin with. This scenario is playing out in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Caucus Region, and is spreading to a neighborhood near you.
Notice how the Iraqi resistance against Saddam Hussein were once labeled resistance? Today they are insurgents. Their usefulness as an ally is diminishing for the West. With gained
‘independence’ come gained notoriety. The same is happening to the Kurds at the moment. This is not an attack on Turkey. It’s just that the Kurds are the insurgents in this article. My point is that all is relative to who is reporting.
This relativity is what is ignored by the Western populous and is actually working against their favor by the very perpetrators of those who control the infrastructure of the media and the economy. It’s time to become more aware of how we’re being played by these and other forces. 5pillar.wordpress.com
I live in the province of Quebec, Canada. We had a violent separatist movement in this province 35 years ago. Like the Kurds, many of the French population in this province wanted their own independent country, and were using violence to promote their cause.
Like the Kurds, the French population felt they were being denied basic fundamental rights and economic opportunities.
Bottom line. It was through patient discussion, an opening up of the political process, and permitting a political party that wanted to have an independent country that brought peace to my province.
In todays Quebec, the idea of an independent country is a dead issue.
Turkey and the Kurds must go down this identicle path. There may be some results that both sides may not like .... but to keep the peace they must accept what the majority want. If not, the conflict will continue into perpetuity.
Interestingly, some of the Quebec terrorists who were involved in the kidnapping and bombing campaigns of the 1960s ended up as politicians and cabinet ministers in the 1980s. I personally still despise them, but I have to accept what the political process produces.
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