Killing of soldier in Diyarbakır deepens concerns amid rising PKK violence

Compounding the atmosphere of mistrust amid an upsurge of militant activity by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), another member of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) lost his life on Oct. 30, a day after he was shot by two masked gunmen in Diyarbakır, the largest city in the predominantly Kurdish populated southeastern Anatolian region.

The General Staff, while announcing non-commissioned officer Nejdet Aydoğdu’s death in a written statement, recalled that Aydoğdu was out shopping with his wife in central Diyarbakir when he was fired at by the gunmen at close range.

Typically, when the General Staff wants to indicate that perpetrator of an attack or a killing was the PKK, it uses the phrase “a terrorist group” or “members of a terrorist organization.” In its Oct. 30 statement, it did not use any of those phrases or refer to the PKK directly, but it used notably strong language to “vehemently condemn” the attack, describing it as "brutal and treacherous.”

The General Staff had earlier reaffirmed that a similar attack killing three off-duty soldiers in Yüksekova in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Oct. 25 was carried out by the PKK. That attack was also committed by masked gunmen in a busy street in the afternoon.

The PKK has waged a three-decade insurgency for self-rule and greater rights in southeastern Turkey, but has largely observed a ceasefire since March 2013 amid a fragile ongoing peace process.

Having recently been under fire from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government due to the language it employed in the wake of the Oct. 25 attack, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a key player in the Kurdish political movement, condemned the latest attack.

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