Notice allows governors to call soldiers to duty in fight against terrorism

Uğur Ergan – ANKARA

AA Photo

The government has paved the way for Turkish Land Forces soldiers to be used to intervene in acts of terrorism and public incidents, as tension grows in the country, with 30 Turkish security forces recently killed in three separate attacks in three days by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in Turkey’s southeast. 

In a notice issued to the governorates of Turkey’s 81 provinces and with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s signature, the government allows for military personnel of Land Forces to be called to help out in the fight against terrorism or intervening in public incidents. 

The legal basis of the notice rests upon the law for provincial administration No. 5442, which took effect in 2013, and authorizes governors to call military troops to duty in case of protests, when the governor decides the police and gendarmerie forces under his authority are not enough to stop them. 

According to the notice governors will be able to call brigade soldiers to duty. The notice also specified the brigades the governors will be allowed to call on. 

According to military commentary on the notice, this implementation will not only be effective in the country’s eastern and southeastern provinces, where terror attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have soared in the past 1.5 months, but will also take effect in other provinces across the country. 

Tension and clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK have increased since the last week of July, after two-and-half years of non-conflict time while the peace process was ongoing so solve the 30-year-long Kurdish problem. 

Scores of deaths have been marked on both sides since the clashes restarted. Some 33 Turkish security forces have been killed in separate attacks launched by PKK members in multiple provinces Sept. 6-10. 

Turkey has reacted to the PKK attacks by launching air and ground forces raids on PKK targets and base camps inside the country and northern Iraq.