News / Turkey

Turkish soldier dies of wounds following clashes with PKK

Friday, 12 February 2016 12:46 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 12 February 2016 1:08 AM ]

Colleagues of slain Turkish police officer Mehmet Bora Tayfur carry his coffin during his funeral ceremony at the Kocatepe Mosque in the capital, Ankara, on January 29, 2016. ©AFP

A Turkish soldier has succumbed to injuries he sustained during clashes with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

The Turkish General Staff announced in a statement that the unnamed soldier was injured in the Sur district, situated 676 kilometers (420 miles) east of the capital, Ankara, on Wednesday and died of his wounds the next day.

Two other Turkish troopers died during the counter-terrorism operation against PKK militants in the same area on Wednesday. A PKK militant was killed during the offensive.

Also on Thursday, Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala stated that an almost two-month military operation against the PKK in the mainly Kurdish southeastern town of Cizre, located about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of Ankara, has ended.

"The operations in Cizre have been successfully completed," the minister said, adding, “Control has been re-established in Cizre and over the terrorists there."

However, the Turkish minister noted that a 24-hour curfew in the town will remain in place for a while longer. The measure was introduced in parts of Cizre and Sur last December as part of the army’s plan to drive out PKK militants.

Turkish soldiers take cover in front of a barricade during clashes with PKK militants in Silvan, Turkey, on November 13, 2015. ©AFP

Ankara's large-scale campaign against the PKK began in the wake of a deadly bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accused the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations.

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