Turkey soldiers kill 17 'PKK militants'
Iran Press TV
Fri Oct 2, 2015 1:57PM
Seventeen suspected Kurdish militants have been killed by Turkey's armed forces, just hours following a move by the government in Ankara to impose a curfew in the mainly Kurdish southeastern town of Silvan.
The measure came into effect on Friday at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) after security forces backed by tanks and helicopters launched a major operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants late Thursday, Anatolia news agency said on Friday.
The public news outlet said the militants who had set up barricades and dug trenches in the town had now been "rendered ineffective."
However, Anatolia said the militants were still attacking Turkish forces with long-range rifles.
Ankara said it imposed the curfew after two Turkish soldiers were reportedly shot dead on Thursday by the PKK militants in Silvan.
Meanwhile, in a related development in its most populous city, Istanbul, which is Turkey's economic, cultural, and historical center, police detained 44 people, including district officials of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of being the political arm of the PKK; a charge the party's leadership has rejected.
The escalation in tension comes after the ruling AK Party failed to gain majority in general elections in June and further failed to form a coalition government leading to a snap election slated for November 1.
In July, a two-year shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK ended after the Turkish government launched airstrikes against the militant group in northern Iraq in the wake of a deadly bombing in the mainly Kurdish town of Suruc left over 30 people dead.
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.
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