Turkish army stages operation in Hakkari

ANKARA

Turkish security forces staged an operation in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari province in attempt to capture the PKK militants who attacked a vehicle.

Turkish security forces staged an operation in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari, which included the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), after a truck that was carrying milk to Aktütün military base was set alight by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) on June 15.

After the vehicle was attacked and burnt by the PKK, a UAV and an attack helicopter were sent to the area to locate the militants.

The helicopter made surveillance flights over the area between 3:37 and 4:45 p.m., the general staff said on its website. Mountain and commando units also staged an operation in the area late on June 15, according to a statement by the military.

Seventeen soldiers were killed in an attack by the PKK at the Aktütün military base near the Iraqi border on Oct. 3, 2008.

PKK members backed with heavy weapons fired from northern Iraq attempting to take out the outpost, located in a deep valley surrounded by rugged mountains in the southeastern province of Hakkari.

The operation came as a court in Ankara decided to arrest two individuals, charging them with “being a member of the terrorist organization [the] PKK, damaging public property and being in possession of explosives.”

Eight suspects, including seven students, were detained on June 14 and sent to court yesterday. The suspects were allegedly involved in an incident on June 8, when a public bus was set on fire in the Tuzluçayır district of Ankara.

A group of protesters hurled molotov cocktails, torching a bus as well as setting up barriers to block a main road, in an attempt to protest against the killing of two protesters during a demonstration against the construction of a military outpost in the southeastern Lice district of Diyarbakir on June 7. Ramazan Baran and Baki Akdemir, who were killed by gunshots during clashes in the Lice. Tension had risen with the death of two men after which a Turkish flag was removed from the Air Force base in the city by a masked demonstrator.

Two police officers were slightly injured in the ensuing clashes between the security forces and protesters.