Off the wire
• Nigeria to focus on grassroots to develop rugby  • Results of Shenzhen four-nation women's soccer tournament  • IAAF president Coe confirms presence at Lagos city marathon  • Visions of other worlds far from planet earth  • 8-goal triller pushes China closer to Four-nation women's tournament title  • Veteran alpine skier Li fulfills dream in National Winter Games in Xinjiang  • Niger hold Guinea 2-2 in 2016 Africa Nations Championship  • China to tighten checks on subsidies for new-energy vehicles  • (Sports) Medical emergency on night 6 of Australian Open hits close to home for Ivanovic, Murray  • WEF report highlights risk of Internet fragmentation  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Turkish military offensive against PKK winds down as gov't claims success

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Turkey has scaled down military operations against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) as the long-run offensive cleared militants from one battleground town in the southeast.

Speaking to reporters in London this week, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that a new security structure would be set up in Silopi town of Sirnak province now that the town was removed from the PKK militants.

"These streets (of Silopi) will no longer be home to terrorists who move around (freely)," Davutoglu said.

Civilians who fled Silopi to escape the violence have started to return this week. The photos and video footages by local media have shown extensive damage to residential and commercial properties.

Turkish TVs aired footages of locals who were cleaning debris before homes and shops.

The Turkish prime minister underlined that sweeping military operations in Cizre town of Sirnak province and Sur town of Diyarbakir, all in the Southeast, are still continuing.

Okan Muderrisoglu, Turkish analyst in Ankara, said government must introduce a comprehensive package that will address social, cultural, political and economic challenges in the region.

He underlined that the government has already been working on such plans that will be put into action once the cities and towns are cleared off from terrorist elements.

Muderrisoglu predicted that the military operations to restore public order and security will continue until Newroz.

Turkey is not out of the woods yet as the conflict continues taking toll in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast region.

On Friday, a police officer was killed in Cizre during clashes with the PKK. Two special sergeants were also injured by the PKK on the same day in Sur.

On the last day of school session before the mid-term break, an explosion that was blamed on the PKK at a primary school in the Baglar town of Diyarbakir on Friday left five students injured.

General Staff announced on Saturday that 544 terrorists have been killed in the ongoing anti-PKK operations in the Sur and Cizre since Dec. 2, 2015.

Turkish security forces have been battling with the PKK militants in urban centers in the southeastern provinces since last July after the PKK broke the ceasefire and the government suspended the peace process.

"The PKK is conducting a type of urban warfare in southeast Turkey," Abdulkadir Civan, Turkish expert, said.

"Many civilians are trapped in the crossfire between security forces and PKK terrorists," he added.

More than 100 civilians have lost their lives and many more injured while several towns have been placed under weeks-long curfews.

The PKK has been waging a separatist war against Turkish state since 1984 and the decades-long conflict claimed lives of more than 40,000 people.

Turkey, the United States and the European Union regard the PKK as terrorist organization. Endit