Turkey Says 500 Rebels Killed, Captured In Past Month

September 17, 2012

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodgan says Turkish security forces have killed or captured some 500 Kurdish rebels over the past month.

Erdogan said dozens of rebels were killed over the past 10 days in a military operation in the southeastern city of Hakkari, near the border with Iraq.

He said operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would end only after the rebels lay down their arms.

There has been an escalation in attacks blamed on the PKK recently, with dozens of Turkish troops and civilians reported killed.

The PKK launched its armed struggle for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, parking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Turkey, the United States and the European Union all consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and BBC

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/turkey-kurdish-rebels/24711008.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.