Turkish gov’t toughens Kurdish bid stance after attack

A Turkish pilot looks at the coffins of three soldiers, who were killed in an armed attack by suspected militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as the coffins are carried to Van via helicopter for an official ceremony. AA Photo

The Turkish government has vowed that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will not get away with the killing of three off-duty soldiers in the southeast province of Hakkari on Oct. 25, saying its determination to advance the peace process will not bow to terror or terrorists.

“Nobody can consider the state’s legitimate security forces and terrorists to be on the same level. It is not possible for us to accept an argument such as ‘retaliation for the killing of three terrorists,’” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Oct. 26, a day after three soldiers were gunned down in the middle of the afternoon on Oct. 25 while walking in the town center of Yüksekova in Hakkari.

He was referring to the killing of three PKK members by security forces on Oct. 23 in the eastern province of Kars, after they reportedly attacked a hydroelectric power station in the Kağızman district.

“I spoke with our interior minister, our chief of general staff, and our governor about yesterday’s attack [in Hakkari]. I gave the same order to each of them: Those who carried out this traitorous action will be pursued, all required work will be done and they will get their just deserts,” Davutoğlu said, speaking during a visit to the southern province of Kahramanmaraş.

Meanwhile, in Ankara, in a development likely to add fuel to fire, the General Staff announced that the body of a village guard who was kidnapped by the PKK and had been missing for two months was found hanging from a telegraph post in the Tatvan district of the southeastern province of Bitlis.

Despite such incidents, the prime minister vowed that the peace process aimed at ending the three-decade conflict between Turkey’s security forces and the PKK would...

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