Turkey: 2 civilians killed, AKP official injured in PKK attacks in eastern Turkey

September 5, 2015 By administrator

Miran Kaya, a local official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Hakkari province

At least two people were killed on Sept. 5 in separate attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in Turkey’s eastern provinces, official security sources have told state-run Anadolu Agency.

In the first incident, militants reportedly blocked the Tuhi Bridge on the Şemdinli-Yüksekova highway near the village of Yufkalı in the southeastern Hakkari province late Sept. 4. They stopped two vehicles and set them on fire after forcing their drivers out.

Celal İnan, driver of the pick-up truck that was passing by, tried to escape but was killed when militants shot at his car with long-barreled weapons, according to officials.

Miran Kaya, a district official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who was travelling in the truck driven by İnan, was injured in the attack.

Security forces launched a wide-scale operation in the area to apprehend the assailants.

Meanwhile, a woman, who was critically wounded during a PKK attack on a police station in the eastern Tunceli province on Sept. 4, died at Tunceli State Hospital.

According to hospital sources, 32-year-old Ayten Günhan succumbed to her wounds at the intensive care unit on Sept. 5.

Her body was sent to Malatya Forensic Medicine Institute for autopsy.

The attack is the latest in a litany of violence that has swept eastern Turkey since the collapse of a ceasefire between the PKK and the government in July.

Late Sept. 4, clashes between Turkish security forces and PKK militants intensified in a number of southeastern towns.

A curfew was ordered in the Şırnak province’s Cizre district, where unconfirmed reports said there have been several casualties in fierce clashes.

The Şırnak Governorate issued a written statement on Sept. 5, noting that the curfew was extended.

The statement said security forces were dispatched in Cizre to remove ditches and barricades on the town’s streets that PKK militants reportedly placed bombs and mines inside.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com

September/05/2015

Turkey: One civilian, one police officer killed three were wounded in attacks in eastern Turkey

September 4, 2015 By administrator

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

One civilian and one police officer were killed and three were wounded in separate attacks in Turkey’s eastern provinces on Sept. 4, official security sources have said.
In the first incident, at least two militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were also killed in Turkey’s eastern Tunceli province after an exchange of fire with security forces on Sept. 4, local security sources said.

A group of PKK militants opened fire on the Şehit Nahit Bulut Police Department on Cumhuriyet Avenue.

Police responded with gunfire and in the resulting exchange two militants were killed at the entrance of the police station. Security teams have been dispatched to the area to contain the ongoing clash, sources added.

Separately, a specialist sergeant was critically wounded in a roadside bomb attack on a security patrol in eastern Van province at noon on Sept. 4, security sources said.

The patrolling Turkish soldiers were from the Yeşilbulak Military Guard Post of the 4th Border Battalion, the sources added.

The wounded soldier was transferred in a military helicopter to the Dursun Odabaşı Medical Center in the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine. Security forces launched an operation in the area to detain the attackers.

On Sept. 4, one civilian was killed and two others, including a child, were wounded when PKK militants opened fire on a pickup truck in southeastern Şırnak province, security sources added.

The 27-year-old driver of the vehicle succumbed to his wounds while being transferred to Şırnak State Hospital. A six-year-old child and a specialist sergeant were wounded in the attack, the sources added.

Government figures show 72 security forces and 20 civilians have been killed since July 7 – when a police officer was shot dead in a PKK attack – while 965 PKK militants have been killed since July 22 in land and air operations in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Turkey: Killed police officer leaves letter behind, doesn’t want Erdoğan or Davutoglu to attend funeral

September 3, 2015 By administrator

Hakkari on Wednesday. (Photo: DHA)

Mehmet Akif Hatunoğlu, one of four police officers who were killed on Thursday when explosives planted by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists were detonated as they passed by, left behind a letter stating he does not want President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to attend his funeral.
The slain police officers — İbrahim Halil Aksoy, Mehmet Hüseyin Balta, Ahmet Akalın and Hatunoğlu — were traveling in a vehicle in the Dargeçit district of southeastern province of Mardin on Thursday morning, when the terrorist staged the bomb attack against the vehicle.
According to media reports, the attacked police vehicle was patrolling the district on Thursday morning to ensure the security of firefighters who were trying to extinguish a fire in an educational institution in the district that was started earlier by the PKK. Security forces have launched a large-scale operation in the district to capture those perpetrators who fled the scene following the bomb attack. Report by Zaman
Security forces later found a letter of testamentary on Hatunoğlu. In the letter, Hatunoğlu says if he is killed, he does not want Erdoğan, Davutoğlu, any ministers, deputies or governors to attend his funeral ceremony as the state officials turned a blind eye to PKK terrorist acts during the settlement process launched in 2012 to end Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish problem.
Expressing his love for his family, wife and daughter, the slain policeman also says he firstly entrusts his daughter to his wife and then his parents, but will never entrust his daughter to the state.

The bomb blast in the Dargeçit district of Mardin is the latest in a succession of frequent attacks against security forces by PKK terrorists since a two-year-long cease-fire ended in July, leaving in tatters the settlement process launched by the government with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to end the Kurdish problem.
Furthermore, two other police officers were injured in another terrorist attack staged by the PKK in Mardin province on Wednesday night. The terrorists detonated mines planted on a road in the Derik district of Mardin while a vehicle carrying a group of police officers was passing by. According to media reports, two police officers were slightly injured and are receiving treatment at Derik State Hospital.
Turkish warplanes also bombed PKK targets on Wednesday after one soldier was killed in the same region. State media said 20 militants were killed in those air strikes.
More than 70 members of the security forces have been killed since the PKK attacks began. The media says more than 900 PKK militants have been killed in that period in southeast Turkey and Iraq, where the terrorist PKK has bases.

PKK attack kills four police officers in southeast Turkey

September 3, 2015 By administrator

MARDİN – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Four police officers were killed in an outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attack in the southeastern province of Mardin on Sept. 3.

PKK militants set an under-construction school alight and detonated an explosive planted on the road in the Dargeçit district of Mardin, targeting an armored police vehicle that accompanied the fire brigades responding to the fire. One chief police officer and three police officers were killed in the explosion. report Doğan News Agency

Police officers were idendified as Akif Hatunoğlu, Ahmet Akalın, while the slain chief police officer was identified as İbrahim Halil Aksoy.

A wide-scale operation has been opened in the region to apprehend the PKK militants responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile, a police station in Kovancılar district of eastern province of Elazığ was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades by the PKK militants late Sept. 2.

Three police officers were injured and hospitalized after the attack.

The police started an investigation into the incident.

Earlier on Sept. 2, two special operations police officers were slightly injured when their car was hit by a roadside bomb in Mardin’s Derik district.

Turkey losing war against PKK Turning to bribery 4 mln liras to be given to informants on terror acts

August 31, 2015 By administrator

AFP photo

People who denounce the perpetrators of acts of terrorism could be awarded up to 4 million Turkish Liras, according to a new regulation that was published in the Official Gazette.

People who inform on suspects whose acts fall within the anti-terror law could be awarded with various amounts of money totaling up to 4 million liras as part of an Interior Ministry regulation that went into effect on Aug. 31. the Hurriyet Daily News reports

Both Turkish citizens and foreigners will be eligible to receive the money if they help catch or inform on the identities or locations of perpetrators of terror acts, provided they do not participate in committing the act.

The regulation aims to increase the efficiency in apprehending terror suspects.

The awards will be decided upon by an Award Commission that will be headed and led by the Interior Ministry deputy undersecretary, and will include three members each from the Police Department and the Gendarmerie Forces. The six members from the security forces will be selected from among high-ranking officers who have previously discharged duties at anti-terror branches.

The amount of money that will be given to informants will vary depending on the information given, the crime and the suspect in question.

The amount cannot exceed 200,000 liras for each piece of information or crime reported. However, the amount can be increased up to 20 times the upper limit – 4 million liras – if the information pertains to a suspect who is a senior-level administrator in a terrorist organization or if the denunciation pertains to a criminal act that would have a nationwide effect. Awards greater than 200,000 liras may be bestowed upon a suggestion by the Award Commission and the approval of the Interior Ministry.

If one person gives information on multiple acts or people, the award for each of these denunciations will be evaluated separately by the commission and will be subject to separate awards, as long as the information is deemed necessary by the commission.

While people need to request that they be given an award for the information, their identities will be kept confidential.

Recipients cannot be current or former personnel of the Turkish security forces or intelligence services, or a civil servant which has been engaged in anti-terror operations.

Village guards, as long as they are not engaged in terror acts, can receive the award in line with the regulation.

The awards and necessary expenses will be paid from an allowance granted to the Interior Ministry, while the awards will be given to people by governor’s offices as defined by the commission.

August/31/2015

Turkey: Former head of AKP youth branch killed in gun attack in Diyarbakır

August 31, 2015 By administrator

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

AA photo

A former head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) youth branch was killed on Aug. 31 in a gun attack in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. the Hurriyet Daily News reports

Unknown assailants attacked Yunus Koca, who was a pharmacist, in front of his drugstore in Diyarbakır’s central Yenişehir district. Koca was badly wounded and rushed to hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Security forces have opened an operation to find the assailants, while the police are investigating whether the attack was linked to terrorist groups in the area.

Five policemen injured in attack in Turkey’s southeast

August 31, 2015 By administrator

At least five policemen were injured in a roadside bomb attack on a police vehicle in the southeastern province of Şırnak on Aug. 31, the Hurriyet Daily News reports quoting official security sources as saying.

According to official sources, members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) detonated a bomb planted on the İdil-Cizre Highway as an armored police car passed by.

The injured policemen were taken to İdil State Hospital for treatment.

Operations against the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States – came after it renewed attacks on Turkish security forces following the July 20 Suruç bombing that killed 33 socialist activists. The attack was blamed on jihadists, but the PKK accuses the Turkish government of responsibility for the blast.

Turkey seeking minor benefits in big game by fighting Christians – Ara Papyan

August 31, 2015 By administrator

Expert in Turkic studies Ara Papyan spoke of the regional developments at a meeting with reporters on Monday.

He dwelt on the current developments in Turkey. He pointed out the importance of a pro-Kurdish party’s election to Turkey’s Parliament as the Kurdish movement is entering a new stage.

“If we view the situation in the context of Armenia’s interests, it is quite favorable for us as Turkey is increasingly dealing with its own problems. Therefore, its role in the south Caucasus developments, particularly in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is diminishing,” Mr Papyan said.

On the other hand, Turkey’s relations with the west are getting worse.

“It is obvious that, taking advantage of the struggle against the Islamic state, turkey is seeking its minor interests in a big game – struggling against Christians,” Mr Papayan said.

Speaking of the upcoming elections in Turkey, Mr Papyan said that the nationalist movement will be gaining strength, with more anti-Armenian statements.

“Let us wait until November, an anti-Armenia and anti-Christian wave,” he said.

Speaking of Azerbaijan, Mr Papyan sad that the situation that state and its leader Ilham Aliyev are in is hardly enviable.

“Azerbaijan is seeing obviously growing discontent. They are well aware that, if they resort to military operations, they have to do it within a year. However, they cannot,” the expert said.

According to him, a negative attitude to Azerbaijan is being shaped in Turkey.

“Turks are aware the Azerbaijani are only ethnically identical to them, whereas they are different in all other respects.”

Turkey: One police officer killed, another wounded in PKK attack in Diyarbakır.

August 30, 2015 By administrator

One policeman was killed and another was wounded on Sunday after terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) members launched an armed attack on a police vehicle in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

According to the Doğan news agency, terrorists opened fire on the vehicle as it passed through the Kayapınar district of Diyarbakır around 1:30 p.m. Two traffic police officers were injured during the incident. One of the policemen, who was in critical condition, died of his injuries.

Turkey: AKP district head kidnapped by PKK members in Turkey’s east

August 30, 2015 By administrator

The district head of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Mazgirt branch in Turkey’s eastern province of Tunceli was kidnapped by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Aug. 29, Doğan News Agency has reported.

A group of PKK militants hijacked a road near the Mazgirt district of Tunceli and started conducting ID checks, where they came across the head of the AKP in Mazgirt, Süleyman Canpolat, along with the village headman of Göktepe, Gökhan Sonar.

PKK members set the car on fire after pulling Canpolat and Sonar out of the car, taking Canpolat while setting Sonar free.

The militants allegedly told Canpolat that they had warned him several times but as he had continued on conducting the post of AKP district head, they were going to “take him with them.”

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, the provincial head of AKP’s Tunceli branch, Erkan Eroğlu, confirmed the abduction of Canpolat, saying that they had learned the news from the security forces.

Meanwhile, two main roads in Tunceli have been closed for three days due to security reasons, Cihan News Agency reported Aug. 30.

Two separate roads connecting Tunceli to the neighboring province of Erzincan and Tunceli’s district of Ovacık have been closed in order to conduct operations in the region against members of terrorist organizations, a decision made by the Tunceli governorate.

PKK members have hijacked the two roads and have been conducting ID checks for a while, diminishing the security of the roads.