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            Tensions Rise as Turkey Continues Offensive Against PKK

   by Dorian Jones

   ISTANBUL -- Turkey's military is ratcheting up its offensive against
   Kurdish fighters seeking autonomy in the southeast, with warplanes and
   helicopters pummeling the mountainous region with bombs, forcing many
   villagers to flee their homes. Analysts claim the action is a bid to
   squelch any Kurdish advance should Syria fall.
   Fighting erupted last week when PKK fighters set up checkpoints around
   the town of Semdinli in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
   Many villagers living in the mountainous rural region have been forced
   to flee their homes.
   "Children were crying and in a terrible state, they wanted to get
   away," one woman said.   "Every hour, every minute, every second there
   was a sound of cannons. They were bombing the area surrounding the
   village. We had to flee the village."
   Thousands of Turkish soldiers have been drafted into the region.
   Reporting and access to the region is limited and, as a result, there
   have been no official figures on casualties.
   The PKK, however, claims to have killed 49 soldiers and shot down two
   helicopters. But the army denies this, saying only two soldiers had
   died and that it had killed at least 37 rebels.
   "There is a serious operation going on there," said Turkish Deputy
   Prime Minister Besir Atalay this week. "There is a strong operation
   continuing in the region."
   The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara and much of the
   international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern
   Turkey in 1984, fighting for minority cultural rights and operating
   mainly from bases from neighboring northern Iraq.
   International relations analyst Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has
   University says the PKK appears to be gaining traction.
   "The PKK are not running back. They are trying to hold their ground,"
   Ozel said. "The city is blockaded by our authorities, therefore
   something very serious must be going on there. Particularly in view of
   the fact that there is a lot going on with Syrian Kurds. That is
   important because the PKK brother organization, let's say, is very
   effective in northern Syria."
   The escalation in PKK operations coincides with Syrian Kurds seizing a
   number of towns last week from Syrian forces close to the Turkish
   border. Ankara voiced concern the region could fall under control of a
   Democratic Union Party which is accused of having links to the PKK.
   Metehan Demir, a defense journalist and Ankara bureau chief for the
   Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, says the PKK may be inspired by events of
   the Arab Spring.
   "Hundreds of militants try to capture a small city in an effort to show
   this area as a place of freedom, where similar things could happen in
   Turkey, like Tunisia or Syria of Libya," Demir said. "But of course
   Turkey will not allow such activities, therefore clashes are very, very
   tough."
   With the ongoing fighting with the PKK occurring close to Turkey's
   border with Iran, questions are being raised about how such large
   numbers of rebels are entering Turkey undetected.
   Bilateral relations between Tehran and Ankara have markedly
   deteriorated over Ankara's strong support for Syrian rebels against the
   regime of President Bashar al-Assad - a key Iranian ally.
   A pro-government Syrian newspaper this week reported that Tehran had
   warned Ankara of serious repercussions if it intervened militarily in
   Syria.
   International relations expert Ozel pointed out that Tehran in the past
   has used the PKK as a means of pressure on Ankara by allowing the
   rebels to use its territory.
   "It's not all that surprising if the Iranians are annoyed with Turkey
   vis-a-vis Syria, maybe going back to the old days of assisting the PKK
   so long as it fits its purposes," Ozel said. "They've done it in the
   past until the late [19]90s."
   Observers warn the escalation in PKK operations in Turkey is adding a
   new destabilizing ingredient in an already increasingly unstable
   region, with various unresolved conflicts threatening to merge.
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   ensive-against-pkk/1455079.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/tensions-rise-as-turkey-continues-offensive-against-pkk/1455079.html