Former Turkish military head Doğan Güreş dies

ANKARA – Hürriyet

Doğan Güreş, served as chief of staff between 1990 and 1994, when clashes between the PKK and the Turkish army were at its highest. AA Photo

Former Chief of General Staff Doğan Güreş passed away on Oct. 14 in Ankara at the age of 88.

Güreş, who served as chief of staff between 1990 and 1994, when clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish army were at its highest, died Oct. 14 in a military hospital in Ankara.

During his tenure of heading the general staff, Güreş was known to have good relations with then-Prime Minister Tansu Çiller. Güreş was later elected as a parliamentarian twice from Turkey’s southeastern province of Kilis. He became an MP of the True Path Party (DYP), which was led by Çiller.

The most severe clashes between the PKK and the Turkish army took place in the first half of the 1990’s, in which Güreş served mostly as the leading commander. While the PKK organized attacks against the Turkish security forces, Turkish troops also fought back. Around 35,000 people have died in clashes between the PKK and Turkish forces since the PKK’s first attack in 1984.