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Three soldiers, 6 PYD militants killed in clash on Syria border

Three soldiers, 6 PYD militants killed in clash on Syria border

A military funeral ceremony was held for private soldier Adem Dövüşgen who was killed during a clash erupted on the Turkish-Syrian border near Ceylanpınar district of Şanlıurfa province on Monday evening. (Photo: DHA)

July 22, 2014, Tuesday/ 13:35:59/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
Three Turkish soldiers and six militants of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), were killed during a clash on the Turkish-Syrian border, the Turkish army has said.

In a written statement released on Tuesday, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) stated that Turkish soldiers conducting patrol duty near the town of Ceylanpınar, in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, realized a group of 10 or 15 people was attempting to illegally cross over to the Turkish side from Syria late on Monday. After ignoring the warnings from troops to stop, the armed group opened fire on the soldiers and the troops on the border retaliated, the TSK said.

Soldiers Adem Döğüşgen, Berat Sağırkaya and Yiğit Şahan were heavily wounded in the resulting clash that erupted after the group opened fire on the Turkish soldiers. Döğüşgen and Sağırkaya died despite medical efforts to save them. Later on Tuesday, Şahan, who had been undergoing treatment at Şanlıurfa Harran University Hospital, died.

The TSK said that a group of Turkish troops from the Karadağ and Aksoy border outposts were immediately deployed to respond to the armed group on the border. It stated that at least six “terrorist members” of the PYD were killed during the clash. Others reportedly started to run back to the Syrian side of the border.

Security in the area was heightened following the incident, with armored vehicles and additional troops deployed to the critical border points shortly after it occurred. Some security measures have also been taken in the border districts of Akçakale, Suruç and Birecik since the clash.

The body of 21-year-old Döğüşgen was sent to his hometown in Hatay province after a funeral ceremony on Tuesday in Şanlıurfa. Sağırkaya's body will also be sent to his hometown of Niğde.

İzzettin Küçük, the governor for Şanlıurfa province, said the fighting broke out around 9:30 p.m. when the militants fired at the Doruklu border post and took place some 10 miles away from central Ceylanpınar, near Altınköy, which is close to the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain. Küçük and other local military officials went to Ceylanpınar to investigate the situation. According to the Doğan news agency, it is not immediately clear why the group was trying to cross into Turkey illegally.

Last year, the PYD seized control of Ras al-Ain following days of clashes with fighters affiliated with the al-Nusra Front. Ras al-Ain is part of Syria's northeastern oil-producing province of Hasaka, home to many of the million-strong Syrian Kurdish minority.

Reports circulating in the Turkish media, citing Küçük, also said that there are suspicions that the group may have been smugglers. No arms or other items from the group have been found on the border, reportedly.

“Doctors say the condition of our soldier now undergoing treatment in the hospital is good. According to initial assessments, the armed group coming from Ras al-Ain could have been smugglers. Assessments are ongoing over the incident. Our troops are in the area now, conducting an investigation of the incident. According to initial information we had, the other group suffered many casualties,” Küçük told reporters.

There was no immediate word from either the PKK or the PYD.

The clash could be a blow to efforts led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to bring an end to the PKK's insurgency, which has left more than 40,000 people dead over three decades.

Earlier this month Turkish deputies passed a bill giving legal recognition to negotiations for the first time, a move hailed as an important step on the path to peace.

Erdoğan is hoping to become Turkey's first directly elected president in the polls on Aug. 10, and may need to rely on votes from parts of the Kurdish community to help him win.

The cease-fire -- negotiated with the leader of the terrorist PKK, Abdullah Öcalan -- has largely held since it came into force last March.

However, tensions in southeast Turkey have risen in recent months, after violent clashes between security forces and Kurds protesting against the building of military outposts in Kurdish areas. 
Keywords: TSK , soldiers , PYD , killing
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