Turkish gov’t denies PKK has state-produced arms

ANKARA

Turkey’s Defense Ministry has refuted news reports suggesting that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is in possession of ammunition that has the stamp of a state-owned arms production and supply agency.

In a written statement on March 2, the Defense Ministry refuted some newspapers’ reported claims that “terrorists have had ammunition with an MKEK stamp,” referring to the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK), a state-controlled corporation with a mandate to supply the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) with guns, ammunition, missiles, rockets and explosives.

“For the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation, the sale of arms and ammunition to any terrorist organization is out of the question. The news reports do not reflect the truth,” the brief statement said.

Customarily, neither the government, nor state agencies, nor the TSK directly cite the name of the PKK in official statements, instead describing it either as “the separatist terrorist organization” or its members as “terrorists.”