The PKK strategy will target major Turkish cities, rather than just army patrols and bases in the Kurdish heartlands. The Daily Telegraph published an interview with PKK commander Murat Karayılan, who said they will now target the metropolises of western Turkey, including those popular with tourists and businessmen, which have occasionally been hit by bombings over the last decade.
A triple bombing struck the resort town of Marmaris in 2006, while a year later a suicide bomber struck a popular shopping street in the capital, Ankara. According to data in the Telegraph, around 2.5 million British tourists visit Turkey each year. The daily also reported that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Sunday they advised “against all but essential travel” to the Southeast of Turkey due to the “high threat from terrorism.”
Karayılan told the newspaper that the PKK had no other choice following the Turkish military’s campaign in northern Iraq, where the PKK is based. He said the PKK would soon declare “democratic autonomy” in Kurdish regions of southeastern Turkey. “If Turkey does not accept this, it is their problem,” he was quoted as saying in the daily.
