Kurdish Riots Continue In Turkey: 31 People Dead, 351 Injured

31 People Dead, 351 Injured During Riots in Turkey: Interior Minister -- RIA Novosti

ANKARA, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - More than 1,000 protesters have been detained, 31 killed and 351 injured during riots in Turkey, which began as demonstrations in support of Syrian Kurds, who are defending the city of Kobani from the Islamic State (IS) militants, Turkish Interior Ministry Efkan Ala said Friday.

"According to the latest reports, 31 people have been killed in the riots and 351 injured, of which 139 are law enforcers. Some 1,024 people have been detained, 58 of them were arrested," the minister said at a press conference.

Read more ....

Update: At least 31 killed in Turkey 'spiral of violence': minister -- Daily Star/AFP

My Comment: Turkey is fooling no one .... even their own Kurdish population .... everyone knows that Turkey will not get involved, and their policy is to stay back and watch the Islamic State as it decimates the Kurds in this part of Syria.

Riots Continue In Turkey Over Ankara's Refusal To Aid Besieged Syrian Kurds

Riots In Turkey Kill 19 Over Failure To Aid Besieged Syrian Kurds -- Reuters

(Reuters) - At least 19 people were reported killed in riots across Turkey, the deadliest street unrest in years, after the Kurdish minority rose up in fury at the government's refusal to protect a besieged Syrian town from Islamic State.

Street battles raged between Kurdish protesters and police across Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, as the fallout from war in Syria and Iraq threatened to unravel the NATO member's own delicate peace process. There were also clashes in the commercial hub Istanbul and capital Ankara.

Read more ....

More News On The Continuing Kurdish Riots In Turkey

Kurdish Protests Roil Turkey as Jihadists Fight in Kobani -- Bloomberg
14 dead as protests rage in Turkey -- AFP
Turkey Kurds: Kobane protests leave 14 dead -- BBC
Kurds and police clash in Turkey in deadly protests against ISIL -- Euronews
Death toll in Turkey protests rises to 18 as fate of Syrian town stirs up tensions -- World Bulletin
At least 19 dead in Turkey amid Kurdish protests over IS onslaught -- Haaretz
US prods Turkey over inaction against ISIS -- FOX News
Turkey and the Kurds - a complicated relationship -- BBC

Kurdish Rebels Are Now Resorting To IEDs To Combat Turkish Forces

Forensic officers work at the scene of a bomb blast in Istanbul Tuesday. An explosion rocked a bus carrying military personnel in Turkey's largest city, killing four people a day after the Turkish military stepped up operations against Kurdish PKK rebels. Osman Orsal/Reuters

5 Killed In Attack On Turkish Military -- New York Times

ISTANBUL — In the latest of a series of attacks on the Turkish military, a remote-controlled bomb killed five people and injured 15 on a busy highway in Istanbul’s Halkali district early on Tuesday, the governor’s office announced.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Turkish news reports said the attack may have been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party, an armed separatist group seeking autonomy in southeastern Turkey, which the authorities here, along with the United States and the European Union, consider a terrorist organization.

Read more ....

More News On This Latest Attack Against Turkish Forces

Kurdish rebels claim Istanbul bomb, killing 5 -- Reuters
Bus carrying Turkish military bombed in Istanbul, kills 5 -- CNN
Istanbul Bomb Kills Five as PKK Clashes Escalate -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Istanbul bomb attack kills 4; Kurdish PKK rebels fingered -- Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: I guess the Kurdish rebels are learning from Iraq and Afghanistan that IEDs .... if used effectively .... can be a formidable weapon against any large standing army.

Hevy Fighting Between Turkish Troops And Kurdish Rebels

Twenty-Two Dead As Turkish Troops Clash With Kurdish Rebels -- Deutsche Welle

Turkish troops and Kurdish guerrillas have clashed in southeast Turkey, near the border with Iraq. Eight soldiers and 12 rebels have been killed, according to Turkey's military headquarters.

A battle between Kurdish rebels and Turkish troops has rekindled the ongoing conflict between the two communities, and prompted Turkey's armed forces to hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets inside northern Iraq.

Read more ....

More News On The Conflict Between Turkey And Kurdish Rebels

Kurdish rebels kill 10 Turkish soldiers near Iraq -- AFP
20 Killed in Turkish, PKK Clashes; Planes Bomb Iraq -- Bloomberg Businessweek
8 Turkish soldiers killed in border clashes -- CNN
Eight Turkish soldiers killed in 'PKK raid' -- BBC
Turkey bombs Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq: army -- AFP
Violence dampens hope of ending Turkey's Kurdish conflict -- Times of India

Turkey's War Against Kurdish Rebels Expanding

Going in: Turkish tanks move near the south-eastern Turkish town of Silopi, near the Iraqi border in 2008. (Reuters)

Friction Between Turkey, Kurdish Rebels Increasing -- Voice of America

Turkish military forces crossed into Northern Iraq this week in pursuit of Kurdish rebels of the PKK. The one day incursion is the first of its kind in two years and is seen as the latest step in a growing escalation in fighting between the Turkish state and PKK. Last year the government announced steps to end the more than two-decade-long conflict. But those efforts have stalled and as hopes of peace are now fading.

Read more ....

More News On The Conflict Between Turkey And The Kurds

Turkey: May air raid killed 100 Kurdish rebels -- AP
Violence dampens hope of ending Turkey's Kurdish conflict -- Times of India
About 130 PKK members killed in past four months, Turkish military says -- Hurriyet Daily News
Turkish troops pull back after Iraq incursion -- CNN
Turkish troops enter northern Iraq -- Al Jazeera
Turkish troops enter Iraq, kill four Kurdish rebels -- AFP
Turkey puts Kurd activists on trial -- Financial Times
Attacks threaten unusual Turkish outreach to Kurds -- AP

A Turkey - Kurdish Rapprochement?

Massoud Barzani, president of the regional Kurdish administration (L), and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. AA photo

Kurdish Leader In Ankara On Historic Visit -- UPI

ANKARA, Turkey, June 3 (UPI) -- The president of the Kurdish government in Iraq arrived in Ankara for his first trip to Turkey in more than five years, his office said.

Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, is in Ankara to meet his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. Barzani led a delegation of Kurdish officials for a five-day visit, his office said in a statement.

Read more ....

More News On Turkey, Iraq's Kurdish Leader, And Turkey's War Against the PKK

Iraqi Kurd leader vows support for Turkey on landmark visit -- AFP
Turkey, Iraqi Kurds see deeper ties after visit -- Reuters
Turkey calls for greater co-operation from Iraqi Kurds in combatting Kurdish rebels -- Canadian Press
Turkey offers northern Iraq investment for peace -- Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey widens cooperation with Kurds in north Iraq -- Earth Times
PKK rebels say scrap ceasefire on Turkish forces -- Reuters
Barzani’s visit comes amid growing tension -- Today's Zaman
President Barzani arrives in Ankara -- Kurdish Globe

My Comment: On the day that Iraq's Kurdish leader meets Turkey's leaders, the Kurds in Turkey decided to renounce their ceasefire and resume military operations .... not a good sign of for peace in the region, but a new intensification of the war.

A Negotiated End To The Turkish-Kurdish War?

Anthony Loyd, Qandil Mountains

PKK Leader Offers Turkey An Olive Branch To End War -- Times Online

The Kurdish leader proposing to end a 25-year-long conflict with Turkey that has cost 30,000 lives believes his peace offer is a once in a generation opportunity that must be grasped by both sides.

In a unilateral gesture that has prompted a re-examination of strategy in Ankara, Baghdad and Washington, the guerrilla leadership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has extended an olive branch, offering to drop its aim of an independent state in return for a negotiated settlement to end its war with Turkey.

“We are at a turning point,” said Murad Karayilan, acting head of the PKK, in an interview with The Times at a secret location in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Read more ....

My Comment: The PKK is just one of a few groups that are fighting for Kurdish independence. If a political accommodation can be found, this will go a long way to bring peace in the region.

Turkey 'Hits PKK Targets In Iraq'

From The BBC:

Turkish fighter planes have bombed suspected Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq.

Turkish military sources said the attacks, which started late on Saturday, targeted members of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

There was no word on casualties. There has been no official comment from the Turkish armed forces on the raid.

Turkey has stepped up its cross-border operations into Iraq in recent months, amid mounting casualties on both sides.

Turkey has accused Iraq of failing to stop the PKK - who are fighting for greater autonomy in south-eastern Turkey - from using its northern areas as a safe haven.

Read more ....

Turkey Bombs Kurdish Rebels For Second Day In Iraq: Army

From Yahoo News/AFP:

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish fighter jets on Wednesday bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, the second raid in as many days, the military said in a statement.

The strike, like the previous one Tuesday, targeted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in the Qandil mountains, where some of the rebels' major bases are located, a statement on the army's website said.

"The planes completed their mission successfully and returned safely to their bases," it said.

Read more ....

Turkey Bombs Kurdish Rebel Targets In Iraq: Army

A view of a camp in the Qandil mountains which hosted some 190 displaced Kurdish families fleeing Turkish bombings of northern Iraq in May 2008. Turkish warplanes on Tuesday bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq, the military said. (AFP/File/Shwan Mohammed)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish warplanes on Tuesday bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq, the military said.

The raid targeted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in the Qandil mountains, a major rebel stronghold, a statement on the army's website said.

"The planes completed their mission successfully and returned safely to their bases," it said.

The statement made no mention of PKK losses, while stressing that measures were taken to prevent any damage to the civilian population of the region.

Read more ....