http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-27166.html
TNA with wire services
15 June 2007
Terrorists killed a Turkish army corporal in an overnight clash in the
east and Turkish tank artillery units shelled mountain paths used by
terrorists, the Anatolia news agency said Thursday.
The clash occurred near the town of Karakocan of Elazig province, the
governor’s office said. In a separate attack, the terrorists killed a
Turkish army major and injured two other soldiers in a roadside bomb
attack near the town of Yuksekova in Hakkari province, bordering Iraq
and Iran.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc sent a condolence message to Chief of
General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and shared the grief of the Turkish
military.
The funeral of Major Binbasi Murat Ozyalcin was brought to Istanbul
from Van on Thursday to be laid to rest.
The attacks came a day after the terrorist group PKK declared a
"unilateral cease-fire" in attacks against Turkey. The terrorist
group, however, insisted on the right to defend itself. Turkey ignored
the terrorist statement.
The Turkish military has intensified anti-terrorist operations against
the terrorists in the country’s southeast, on the border with Iraq.
On Wednesday, Turkish tank and artillery units near the town of Cizre
fired salvos at mountain paths used by terrorists after sneaking into
Turkey from northern Iraq, Anatolia reported.
Turkey’s military has suggested staging a cross-border offensive to
root out bases of the PKK in northern Iraq, but the government said
priority should be given to fighting some 1,500 terrorists already
inside the country. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday
said another 3,500 terrorists are believed to be based in northern
Iraq.
Turkey’s military and civilian leaders discussed new measures against
the PKK at a security summit on Tuesday.
On Thursday, private NTV television reported that the authorities
focused on the possibility of reinforcing about 2,000 Turkish troops
who have been monitoring terrorist activities in northern Iraq since
1997, and creating a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) deep buffer zone inside
Iraq to stop terrorists before they reach the rugged and porous
border.
Erdogan, speaking to reporters on Thursday, refused to answer
questions about whether Turkey was planning to create a buffer zone
inside Iraq.
NTV said authorities have agreed to build obstacles such as water
canals to increase security along the Iraqi
border.
Land mine explosions are common in the southeast region, where PKK
commonly use them to attack Turkish military targets. Turkey says it
has not planted mines since 1998. PKK terrorists often plant mines on
dirt roads used by military troops and also attack army patrols with
remote-controlled roadside bombs.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the
European Union. Violence is much lower than it was in the 1980s and
1990s, but clashes have increased in recent months as the PKK
terrorists cross into Turkey from hideouts in the mountains. Turkey
has been pressing the United States and Iraq to crack down on the
group in northern Iraq.
