Turkey report successes in border battles with Kurdish insurgents
ANKARA — Turkey's military has reported heavy Kurdish insurgency
casualties in attacks along the border with Iraq.
The military said at least 35 fighters of the Kurdish Workers Party were
killed in less than a week in battles along the border with Iraq in
mid-October. On Oct. 17, the General Staff said the figure was based on
intercepts of PKK communications in the Turkish province of Sirnak.
"The terrorists were killed in clashes on Cudi mountain [in Sirnak]," an
official said.
Officials said the military has conducted daily air and artillery
strikes on suspected PKK positions in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
On Oct. 16, the PKK said it downed a Turkish military helicopter, in which
five soldiers were killed. The Turkish military said the helicopter crashed
because of a technical failure, Middle East Newsline reported.
"There is no room in this fight for weakness or hesitation," Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said. "Nobody should dare to show our
government or security forces as weak."
The General Staff has been criticized for the heavy Turkish losses in
the PKK campaign. The military has banned publication of internal documents
and photographs of an Oct. 3 attack on the Turkish Gendarmarie post at
Aktutun, in which 17 soldiers were killed.
Officials said the PKK has employed air defense and artillery systems in
the latest campaign. They said the United States relayed an intelligence
warning to Ankara of the latest PKK deployment in southeastern Turkey.
Turkish police have also cracked down on Kurdish political activities.
On Oct. 18, police clashed with PKK supporters in Diyarbakir, Istanbul and
Mersin in demonstrations that demanded the release of PKK commander Abdullah
Ocalan.
