Why is the PKK attacking? This is my answer

Please note the time differences in arriving news stories.

On the night of Sept. 5, at 9 p.m., the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) organized attacks at a road checkpoint in southeast Uludere, on military houses in the Tekser neighborhood and on a police housing complex in the Gündoğdu neighborhood with rocket launchers and long-range weapons. At 9:50 p.m., in southeastern Tunceli, a masked group blocked traffic, built a fire on the road and threw stones at the police. A clash erupted, spreading to side streets. 

At 10:39 p.m., the PKK organized simultaneous attacks in the Şırnak district with rocket launchers and long-range weapons at three military posts and one police post. 

At 11:19 p.m., in the Beytüşşebap district, the PKK simultaneously attacked police and military posts with rocket launchers and long-range weapons.  

At 11:31 p.m., after the curfew hour in Cizre, police and the army launched a major operation. 

At 11:37 p.m., the body of 55-year-old contractor İbrahim Özkan, who was missing for two days, was found in the lake at Atatürk Dam with a stone tied to his chest.  

At 11:45 p.m., about a thousand people gathered in the Turgut Özal neighborhood in the İdil district, with İdil Mayor Mehmet Muhdi Aslan, co-mayor Nevin Girasun and local politicians. They wanted to march 30 kilometers to Cizre to protest the operation. They blocked traffic on the İdil-Cizre state highway and walked 2 kilometers while chanting slogans before police squads in armored vehicles intercepted them. 

At 11:49 p.m. (four minutes later), road-blocking PKK members in Bingöl stopped cars and started checking identities. They sent back an ambulance with a patient inside, shooting at it while it departed. 

At 11:50 p.m. (one minute later), in southeastern Diyarbakır’s central Sur district, the PKK organized an attack on the district police station with rocket launchers. One rocket hit an office adjacent to the police station. 

At 11:53 p.m., the explosive material PKK members were carrying for an attack against security forces exploded. 

At 11:55 p.m., it was reported two soldiers were wounded during a PKK attack in Beytüşşebap. 

And in the early hours of the morning, in the Hasırlı neighborhood of Diyarbakır, while police were conducting operations against the PKK’s urban wing, the PKK launched a rocket attack. Two policemen died, three were wounded.

The hours when our hearts were torn out 

These were the stories bombarding newsrooms on Saturday night. This is happening every night. A lot of sad news… We are experiencing the saddest days of our profession. 

These stories kept coming, like tear gas bombs sent to our souls, once every four minutes, sometimes every minute, until the morning. Unfortunately, this is the scene. There is absolutely a testing for an uprising before the elections. Also, by attacking the police, military and public, they are trying to create a so called “war atmosphere.” Following this comes the “ceasefire.”  

I wrote it before: Those who lay ambushes and organize bloody raids are called “terrorists.”

There is another solution to be drawn from this scene. With these attacks, the PKK is reminding the regional voter, giving the message that they are present there, generating fear. 

This is the reason for simultaneous attacks five minutes apart, the ditches, the ambushes and the roadblocks. 

Our young men are dying, leaving behind indescribable sorrows. 

Shame on those who are trying to display these attacks as innocent reflexes.