Turkish PM says ‘nothing to discuss’ with PKK after attacks

ANKARA - Agence France-Presse

AP photo

Turkey's prime minister ruled out talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on June 8 after a spate of attacks blamed on the militants killed at least 17 people this week.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said the outlawed group had made a bid for dialogue after almost a year of renewed violence that ended a two-and-a-half year truce, adding that the government had no interest in responding.

"These days news comes, directly or indirectly, from the terrorist organisation saying 'we can negotiate, we can lay down arms, we should talk.' There’s nothing to discuss," Yıldırım said late on June 8.

Car bombings targeting Turkish police in Istanbul and in the southeast have claimed at least 17 lives so far this week alone, shattering festivities for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

A strike against the security forces on June 7 in the heart of Istanbul claimed 11 lives, including six police officers.

The number of dead from an attack on June 8 in the Midyat district of the southeastern Mardin province near the Syrian border, rose to six after a third police officer died.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either bombing but Turkish authorities have blamed the PKK, which is listed as a terror group by Ankara and much of the international community.

Yıldırım said: "The attacks that occurred in the month of Ramadan show the vile terrorist organisation does not recognise any sacred value."
   
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed that the fight against the PKK will continue "until doomsday.”