PKK kills two soldiers, injures four in southeastern Turkey

HAKKARİ – Anadolu Agency

AA photo

Two soldiers have been killed while four others have been wounded in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the Tekeli military base in the Şemdinli district of southeastern province of Hakkari. 

The soldiers were wounded as militants opened fire with long-barreled weapons at around 5:55 p.m. on June 10, an official statement by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said. The soldiers’ identities were disclosed as Specialized Sgt. Mesut Ardıç and Specialized Sgt. İsmail Yüksel. 

A ceremony was held for the soldiers in the eastern province of Van before their funerals in their hometowns.
According to reports, some 5,000 people bid farewell to Yüksel at a funeral ceremony in the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray on June 12.

Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to the military’s statement. 

In a separate attack late on June 11, two PKK militants targeted a military recruitment center in the Kağızman district of the northeastern province of Kars with rocket launchers at around 1:20 a.m., security sources reported. 

The rocket missed the office building and landed nearby, the source said, adding that no casualties were reported.      

An operation has been launched to apprehend the terrorists who reportedly fled the scene after an ensuing gunfight.      

Meanwhile, three men suspected to have links to a deadly bomb attack in the Vezneciler district in Istanbul that claimed the lives of 11 people on June 7 were remanded in custody on June 11. 

According to Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office, one man identified as Eyyüp S. was remanded on charges of “premeditated murder” and of “being a member of a terrorist organization.”       

Two other men - Abdulsettar B. and Mehmet Nur K. - were remanded on charges of membership of a terrorist organization.