Seven soldiers killed as PKK attacks outpost

A group of terrorists opened fire at the Hantepe outpost in the Çukurca district early yesterday. Soldiers responded and a clash ensued. Six soldiers died during the hours-long clash while 17 others were wounded. Specially trained commandoes from the Hakkari Mountain and Rangers' Brigade Command's Fatih Military Barracks were mobilized to the region immediately.

Helicopters and ambulances were also sent to the regions for the slain and injured soldiers. Eleven Turkish soldiers were wounded on Monday in the same area when an explosion ripped through their vehicle.

Various political party leaders and civil society organizations condemned the attack yesterday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his speech at his Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting by condemning the terrorist attack. He vowed to fight terrorism to the end. “But the issue is not just related to security. It also has many social and economic dimensions. We have to be in solidarity,” he said. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu delivered his condolences for the slain soldiers to Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ. Meanwhile, the explosion of two percussion bombs in the eastern province of Van yesterday damaged some shops and caused panic. An investigation was launched into the explosions, which are suspected to have been carried out by the PKK.

Turkey has seen an upsurge in violence since PKK militants called off a 14-month cease-fire at the start of June. Analysts say the PKK’s desire to undermine a referendum democratizing Turkey’s 1982 Constitution, which was drafted shortly after a coup, is responsible for the escalation in violence. Earlier this month an attack on a military outpost left 15 people dead.

The PKK has stepped up its attacks after accusing the government of not being serious about a bid to extend more cultural rights to the country’s Kurds. Most of the PKK’s estimated 4,000 fighters are based in the mountains of neighboring northern Iraq, from where they launch attacks on military targets in southeastern Turkey. Turkey has lost at least 40,000 people in the fight against the outlawed PKK since 1984, when the terrorist organization was set up with the goal of establishing an autonomous Kurdish state in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey. The PKK has been declared a terrorist organization by the international community, including the US and the EU.

Prime Minister Erdoğan announced plans last week to create special units to combat the terrorists along the border with Iraq. The plans envisage building 150 new military outposts along the frontier. These units will comprise professional soldiers who will receive a high salary and will be granted a sum in compensation at the end of their service. All soldiers will serve on a voluntary basis and will receive intense and challenging training for several months. They will fight terror using the methods militants in the mountains use. The special units will not act according to a coordinated army mentality but rather will launch surgical strikes according to incoming intelligence. They will remain in the mountains for a long period of time. They will eat and sleep there. In addition to defense, they will also pursue terrorists.

The prime minister’s announcement came in the wake of a bloody PKK assault at a military border unit in late June. Nine soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded when terrorists attacked an army border unit in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district. Two more soldiers were slain in the same area later on in the day by a land mine, bringing the number of soldiers killed in a day to 11. One week after the attack, five people, including the daughter of an army officer, were killed in a roadside bomb attack on a civilian bus transporting military personnel in İstanbul.