FRA approves establishment of five new firms for investment fund management, SME financing    Sukari Gold Mine showcases successful public–private partnership: Minister of Petroleum    Egypt's Environment Minister attends AMCEN conference in Nairobi    Egypt considers launching national platform to mobilise green financing for private-sector industrial transformation    Egyptian, Belarusian officials discuss drug registration, market access    Egypt's ARC, Italy's AICS sign deal to boost wheat production    Gold prices edge higher on July 16th    Egypt stocks hit record highs in 2025 as reforms fuel rally: Cabinet    Egypt condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Syria    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Egypt, Mexico explore joint action on environment, sustainability    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt's PM urges BRICS to prioritise peace    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Turkey launches offensive against Kurdish rebels
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 15 - 07 - 2011

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships conducted a major offensive in southeastern Turkey on Friday after Kurdish legislators declared autonomy in the region and more than a dozen soldiers were killed there by Kurdish rebels.
After Friday prayers in this mostly Muslim nation, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said violence by the Kurdish rebels in the Diyarbakir area will achieve nothing.
"What they did is never going to drag us to the table," Erdogan said of the Kurdish guerrillas. "If they want to make peace, there is only one thing to do: the terrorist organization must lay down arms," he said in nationally televised comments in Istanbul.
In a rare show of unity, Erdogan's ruling party and the opposition issued a joint parliamentary declaration denouncing the violence and vowing solidarity against "terrorism and separatist attempts."
On Thursday, Kurdish guerrillas attacked Turkish forces in Diyarbakir, leaving 13 soldiers and seven rebels dead. It was the deadliest violence involving the Kurdish guerrillas in three years. That clash and the autonomy declaration by the regional Kurdish legislators also sparked anti-Kurdish protests across Turkey, including a firebomb attack on a closed office of the Kurdish political party on Thursday night in Ankara, the capital.
The rebel attack, and the autonomy vote, occurred hours after lawmakers from the country's Kurdish party and the government failed to reach an agreement to end a boycott of Turkey's Parliament in Ankara by Kurdish legislators.
Kurdish lawmakers have said they will not take their oath of office until five pro-Kurdish legislators who are charged with ties to Kurdish rebels are released from jail and another Kurdish politician, Hatip Dicle - whose election to Parliament was canceled due to a conviction for ties to the rebels - is allowed to work in Parliament.
The military's offensive involves hundreds of elite soldiers sent to remote areas of southeastern Turkey where Kurdish rebels are believed to be hiding.
The area is near northern Iraq, where Kurdish rebels have long been based. Turkey's military declined to comment when asked if the offensive has caused casualties.
Kurdish politicians have long pushed for greater cultural and political rights for Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of Turkey's 74 million people. Since Kurdish rebels took up arms in 1984 to seek autonomy in their southeastern region, the conflict has killed nearly 40,000 people.
After an umbrella group that includes Turkey's Kurdish party proclaimed Kurdish autonomy in Diyarbakir on Thursday, the prosecutor's office the region's largest city said it was examining the declaration, which the government sees as a threat to national unity. Prosecutors are expected to press criminal charges against dozens of Kurdish lawmakers, politicians and activists after the probe.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen denounced Thursday's rebel attack on Turkish soldiers.
"I strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Diyarbakir province," Rasmussen said in a statement on Friday. "Such heinous attacks have no justification. I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who were killed. NATO allies stand in full solidarity against the scourge of terrorism."
Dutch legislator Ria Oomen-Ruijten, a member of the European Parliament, also condemned the attack and urged Kurdish lawmakers to distance themselves from the rebels who are regarded as a terrorist group by the West.
"I urge the newly elected (Kurdish) members of Parliament to distance themselves from this unacceptable violent attack and call upon them to make a fresh start in the peace settlement," she said. "The only way forward is through political dialogue and concrete initiatives for reconciliation."
In Turkey on Friday, top generals and senior Cabinet members stood by coffins of the dead soldiers draped in the red and white Turkish flag at a solemn funeral service at a military base in Diyarbakir and prayed for them.
Thursday's military casualties were the highest since the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party killed 17 soldiers in an October 2008 attack on a military unit on the Iraqi border.
The rebels also killed a dozen soldiers in an ambush along the Iraqi border in October 2007, an attack that triggered a weeklong air-and-ground Turkish offensive in early 2008 against Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq.


Clic here to read the story from its source.