PKK militants attack Turkish soldiers, injure 4
At least four Turkish soldiers have suffered injuries in clashes with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey.
According to the army, the militants opened fire on the troops on Saturday in an area near the village of Yukari Tutek in Agri Province.
The troops had been dispatched to the area to keep an eye on a spring festival, which was organized by the PKK.
The military added in its statement that the clashes are still underway and reinforcement forces were sent to the area.
“Reconnaissance aircraft, armed helicopters and a commando unit have been dispatched to the area,” the army said.
Meanwhile, Selahattin Demirtas, the leader of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which acts as an intermediary between the government and the PKK, denounced the incident as “a sad and worrying development.”
He also called for “a detailed investigation” into the clashes “to find out exactly what happened.”
The violence came despite the fact that, last month, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, had called upon Kurds to cease their decades-long armed struggle against Turkey.
The Turkish government launched a peace process with the PKK in 2012 to put an end to the armed Kurdish campaign for autonomy.
The PKK subsequently declared a ceasefire with Ankara, and began pulling out from southeastern Turkey to camps in northern Iraq, where it is currently based.
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.
MR/HJL/SS
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