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Timeline of the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency (2015–present)

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2015 PKK rebellion
Part of the Turkey–PKK conflict and the Spillover of the Syrian Civil War
Date24 July 2015 – present
(9 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Eastern and Southeastern Turkey, Syria–Turkey border, Iraqi Kurdistan
Status Ongoing
Belligerents

 Turkey

Kurdistan Workers' Party

Commanders and leaders
Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu
Turkey Hulusi Akar		 Murat Karayılan
Cemil Bayık
Strength

628,141 military personnel
407,122 reservists[1]
(2015 figures, of which not all are directly involved)

46,000 Village Guards[2]		 4,000-32,800[3][4]
Casualties and losses
236–300 security forces members killed (Turkish claim)[5][6]
1,557 members of security forces killed in 2015 (PKK claim)[7]		 3,100 PKK members killed in 2015 (Turkish claim)[8]
220 PKK members killed in 2015 (PKK claim)[7]

Total: 1,927–3,450 killed in 2015[7][8][9] (150 civilians)[9] 162 civilians killed (16 Aug. 2015–8 Jan. 2016)[10]

200,000 displaced[11]

The 2015 PKK rebellion refers to the ongoing third phase of the Turkey-PKK conflict between the Kurdish armed militant group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish government, beginning in late July 2015. The 2015 rebellion erupted following a two-and-a-half-year-long peace process, aimed to resolve the long-running conflict. The Turkey-PKK conflict has been going on since 1984, resulting in some 45,000 killed, as well as 2 to 3 million displaced.[12]

The 2015 conflict between Turkey and the PKK broke out following two year-long peace negotiations, which began in late 2012, but failed to progress in light of the growing tensions on border with Syria in late 2014, when the siege of Kobani created an unprecedented wave of Kurdish refugees into Turkey. Some of the Kurds blamed Turkey for not intervening against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the crisis, resulting in widespread Kurdish riots in Turkey involving dozens of fatalities. The tensions further escalated in summer 2015 with the July 20 bombing in Suruç, allegedly executed by an ISIL-affiliated Turkish group against Kurdish supporters; some PKK supporters then claimed responsibility for the July 23 killing of two Turkish police officers in Eastern Anatolia, describing it as a retaliation.[13] (A week later, Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) spokesman Demhat Agit denied official PKK involvement, saying "these are the units independent from the PKK. They are local forces which organized themselves and not affiliated with us."[14]) On July 24, Turkey announced a military operation against PKK and ISIL targets in Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava respectively, claiming to inflict dozens of fatalities on both fronts – which caused the PKK to withdraw from the peace talks and announce a full-scale rebellion. The same day, Turkey also performed a nationwide crackdown on PKK and ISIL operatives, arresting hundreds. The conflict then escalated, with pro-PKK Kurdish organizations staging attacks across the country, and Turkish forces attacks in the form of aerial bombardments and operations in the east of the country, including the Siege of Cizre in September 2015. In October 2015, the PKK declared a unilateral cease-fire, immediately after the 2015 Ankara bombings.

As of November 2015, a number of towns and areas in Eastern Turkey had come under the control of the PKK rebels and affiliated armed organizations. The number of casualties in 2015 was claimed by Turkish government to be 3,100 Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey and northern Iraq, as well as 200 killed among Turkish security forces.[8] The PKK claimed 1,557 Turkish security forces were killed in 2015 during the clashes in North and South Kurdistan, while it lost 220 fighters.[7] According to the International Crisis Group, 550 people, including up to 150 civilians, were killed in southeast Turkey between July and December 2015. The Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elçi was also among the victims.[9]

Background

Main articles: Solution process and 2014 Kurdish riots in Turkey

Civilian Impact

According to Turkish Human Rights Foundation, there have been 52 intermittent curfews in seven Kurdish towns where 1.3 million people live, sometimes lasting as long as 14 days. The organization puts the civilian death toll since the summer of 2015 at 124.[15] The situation in the South-East has little coverage in the Turkish media. The authorities have enforced a blockade over the region and have shut down both cell phone coverage and the internet. Hundreds of houses, dozens of schools and official buildings have been damaged by artillery and gun fire from militants,[16] and civilians have been allegedly fired at. Turkish Forces have used measures like tank fire to clear out bomb-trapped barricades which lead to damage of residential buildings.[17] It is estimated that more than 200,000 people have been displaced. According to the HRW, civilian death toll is around 100. Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association accuses Turkish Armed Forces and Gendarmerie of targeting civilians under the pretext of fighting terrorism.[18] Many residents in the southeastern cities have been trapped without food or electricity as clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces have intensified. In December 2015, town of Cizre, was under curfew for more than two weeks, with mounting civilian casualties. According to a teacher from the district of Silopi, the tanks fire all day and people have nowhere left to hide and they are dying in their own homes.[19]

Academics Petition

On January 11, 2016, more than 1000 scholars and academics from 90 Turkish Universities and abroad signed a petition entitled “We won’t be a party to this crime,"[20] calling for an end to the government's crackdown on the PKK, and a resumption of the peace process. They also criticized the use of tanks in urban centers calling it a deliberate massacre of Kurdish people.[21] On January 12, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sharply criticized the dissident academics which included David Harvey, Immanuel Wallerstein, Slavoj Žižek and Noam Chomsky and accused them of being a fifth column of foreign powers.[22] He also called on the Turkish judiciary to move against the “treachery”. All 1,228 Turkish signatories were subsequently placed under investigation.[20] Erdoğan invited Chomsky to visit the area in a televised speech to a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara. However Chomsky rejected the offer and said: “If I decide to go to Turkey, it will not be on his invitation, but as frequently before at the invitation of the many courageous dissidents, including Kurds who have been under severe attack for many years.” He also accused Erdoğan of aiding ISIS and the al-Nusra Front.[23] On January 14, Düzce University in northwest Turkey dismissed an associate sociology professor after she signed the declaration and On January 15, Erdogan attacked the signatories again, accusing them of supporting the Kurdish rebels and said " having a PhD title doesn't necessarily make you an intellectual. These are people in the dark. They are cruel and despicable."[24] That same day, Turkish authorities arrested 14 signatories, including 12 academics from Kocaeli University, accusing them of spreading “terrorism propaganda” and of insulting the state.[25] U.S. Ambassador John Bass released a statement expressing his concern regarding the arrests. He also said "Expressions of concern about violence do not equal support for terrorism. Criticism of government does not equal treason."[26] On January 16, main opposition leader Kemal Killicdaroglu sharply criticized Erdoğan over detention of dissident academics and called him a dictator. Two days later, lawyers for Turkish President filed a lawsuit against him and a prosecutor from the Ankara prosecutors' office also launched an investigation into his comments on charges of "openly insulting the president", a crime punishable by up to four years in jail.[27][28]

2015 Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the Turkey–PKK conflict

July

Suruç bombing and suspected PKK retaliations

On 20 July 2015, a bombing in the Kurdish district of Suruç, allegedly perpetrated by the ISIL-linked Dokumacılar group, killed 32 young activists and injured over 100.

On 22 July, in Ceylanpinar (Turkey), two policemen were murdered after being shot in the head by PKK fighters in their sleep.[29][30] A week later, however, KCK spokesman Demhat Agit denied PKK involvement, saying "these are the units independent from the PKK. They are local forces which organized themselves and not affiliated with us" although despite the PKK claiming responsibility for the attack.."[14][31]

Operation Martyr Yalçın against PKK

Main article: Operation Martyr Yalçın

The July 22 and 23 attacks were largely seen as a casus belli, which resulted in Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu taking the decision to begin active air operations against PKK and ISIL positions south of Turkey's border.

On 24 July, members of the PKK abducted a policeman in the province of Diyarbakir. Additionally two police officers were injured, one with life-threatening injuries, after a suspected PKK grenade attack in Hakkari.[32]

On 25 July, two Turkish soldiers were killed and four were wounded in a car bomb attack in the province of Diyarbakir in Turkey by PKK fighters.[33][34]

Operations Arslan Kulaksız and Hamza Yıldırım

Turkey on 26 July reportedly again attacked the same village west of Kobani targeting Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, and fired on a YPG vehicle west of Tell Abyad.[35]

In the early hours of 26 July, it was reported that F-16s yet again took off from Diyarbakır, this time only targeting PKK targets in Northern Iraq. Although there was no official government statement on the airstrikes, PKK sources claimed that one of their key bases in Hakurk was attacked.[36] It was reported that the number of fighter jets taking part was significantly lower than the jets that took part in the previous waves of the operation.[37] The same day, Turkish artillery shelled a PKK position in the north of Iraq over several hours.[38]

On 27 July, in the province of Mus, a Kurdish area, the Turkish head of the gendarmerie of the Malazgirt district was killed.[39]

On 28 July, for the first time since the beginning of the operation, two Turkish F-16s bombed PKK fighters inside Turkey, in the province of Sirnak.[40]

On 28 July, the pipeline between Turkey and Iran was blown up in the province of Agri in Turkey, according to the authorities PKK involvement was suspected[41] while, in a Kurdish town a sergeant of the Turkish army was killed; according to the army, the PKK is responsible.[42] In another province, a police officer was kidnapped by suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in southeastern Turkey.[43]

In the night between 28–29 July, a new wave of shelling was launched, PKK camps in Zap, Metina, Gara, Avaşin-Basyan, Hakurk and the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq were hit by Turkish fighter jets in an operation named after the recently killed gendarmerie major, "Arslan Kulaksız".[44]

On 29 July, the oil pipeline between Kirkuk (Iraq) and Ceyhan (Turkey) was blown up in the east Turkey, in the Sirnak province[45] while in Hakkari, police quarters was under attack with heavy arms, including rocket launchers and long barrel rifles.[46] In an other attack, one soldier was killed and 4 other were wounded in an attack in the Doğubeyazıt district in the eastern province of Ağri.[47]

On 30 July, Turkish fighter jets flew over the YPG-held towns of Kobani and Sarrin at the same time as an ISIS attack on Sarrin town.[citation needed] On 31 July, Turkish reconnaissance aircraft once again flew over YPG territory in the north of Syria. While in Iraq, Turkish fighter jets shelling massively PKK positions.[48]

On 30 July, a policeman and a civilian were killed in the town of Cinar by PKK guerilla according to the authoritie,[49] while three soldiers were killed in the attack of their convoy by PKK fighters in the province of Sirnak.[50]

On 31 July, Turkish fighter jets shelled bases of PKK in the north of Iraq, with 30 warplanes were involved. This operation was named "Hamza Yıldırım" in honor of the Corporal Hamza Yıldırım killed by the PKK in Turkey few day earlier.[51]

On 31 July, two policemen and two PKK fighters were killed by the PKK, in a PKK raid on a police station in Pozanti, Adana. In a separate incident, PKK rebels bombed a railway line in the province of Kars in the country's east, killing a worker,[52][53] while three PKK fighters were killed in Agri province.[54]

August

On 1 August, two PKK fighters were killed and one civilian wounded in an attack in Çatak[55] while PKK fighters took 70 hostages for two hours in the Kars-Erzurum-Iğdır highway.[56] One soldier was killed in a mine explosion in Kars Province, reportedly by PKK.[57]

On 2 August, a suicide bomber attacked a military station in Doğubayazit, Ağrı Province. The attack resulted in the deaths of two Turkish soldiers and 31 injuries.[citation needed] Separately one soldier was killed and four injured after a military convoy hit a mine in the Mardin Province. Both attacks were blamed on the PKK.[52]

On 3 August, two Turkish soldiers were injured after a landmine exploded in Diyarbakir, reportedly by the PKK.[58]

On 4 August, PKK forces attacked a guard post in Şırnak Province with an RPG killing one soldier and injuring another. In a separate attack, a mine killed two soldiers, also in Şırnak Province resulting in Turkish F-16s targeting PKK camps in the country's Hakkarı Province, with no information on casualties.

On 5 August, a PKK bombing left one civilian dead in Cizre, Şırnak Province. Another bombing, this time in Bitlis, caused no casualties or damage. Clashes occurred, in Diyarbakır Province, Hakkari Province and Bitlis Province with no reported casualties.[59]

On 6 August, clashes were reported in Tunceli Province, with no reported casualties.[59]

On 7 August, PKK attacks left eight dead during numerous attacks. In Silopi, Şırnak Province, five were killed during clashes between Police and the PKK, resulting in the deaths of at least one soldier and one police officer. In Doğubayazıt, Ağrı Province, a PKK attack left one soldier and one militant dead. A PKK attack on a police patrol in Milyat, Mardin Province killed one police officer. Elsewhere clashes were reported in Cizre and Uludere, Şırnak Province, Başkale, Van Province and Nusaybin, Mardin Province. PKK militants were also reported to have hijacked a minibus near Beytüşşebap, Şırnak Province.[60][61]

On 10 August, 9 people were killed in a series of PKK attacks in Turkey. In İstanbul, a car bomb targeted a police station, injuring ten police officers, one police officer and two attackers were killed in subsequent clashes. Two others attackers launched an attack on the US consulate in Istanbul however there were no casualties, police arrest one of the attackers, a female, in clashes following the attack. In Silopi, Şırnak Province, a mine hit a police convoy killing four officers. In Beytüşşebap, Sirnak Province, militants opened fire on a military helicopter, killing one soldier.[62] Turkish security forces killed a female PKK fighter named Kevser Eltürk, took a picture of her body after they stripped her naked, and distributed the photo and they were congratulated by Turkish nationalists.[63][64][65]

On 13 August, three people were killed in PKK attacks, a gendarmerie sergeant was killed by a PKK landmine in Bingöl Province.[citation needed] Two PKK insurgents were killed in clashes in Beytüşşebap, Şırnak Province.[66]

On 14 August, 4 soldiers were killed in a series of PKK attacks. Three soldiers were killed and six injured during clashes with the PKK in Dağlıca, Hakkarı Province. A civilian was killed during clashes between Police and the PKK in Bağlar, Diyarbakır Province.[66]

On 19 August, 4 Turkish police officers were killed by a roadside bomb [67]

September

On 3 September, PKK killed 4 Turkish police officers in Mardin province.[68]

On September 5, the Turkish security forces besieged Cizre, in a one-week operation. The operations were reported to result in about 30 deaths among city's Kurdish residents.[69]

On 6 September, PKK killed 16 Turkish soldiers by a double bombing on a military convoy in Hakkari Province.[70]

On 8 September, PKK forces ambushed a Police minibus killing 14 officers. A second attack also resulted in the shooting and killing of a police officer by PKK forces.[70]

On 25 September, two Turkish soldiers were killed and nine injured during clashes with the PKK.[citation needed]

On 25–26 September, 34 Kurdish rebels, 4 civilans and 2 Turkish Soldiers were killed in Şırnak Province. PKK sources claimed 14 Kurdish rebels and 75 Turkish Soldiers were killed.[71][72]

The Turkish police used "Armenian" as an insult to refer to the Kurdish people in Cizre and Burhan Kuzu, a senior adviser to the President of Turkey, claimed that PKK members were uncircumcised implying that they were non-Muslim Armenians, suggesting that non-Muslims are terrorists and trying to drive a wedge between "Muslim" Kurds and the PKK.[73]

October

Further information: 2015 Hakkari assault

On 2 October, the Turkish military entered the southeastern city of Silvan, in the Diyarbakır Province with tanks, armored carriers and hundreds of troops to seek out and destroy PKK elements within the city. Resulting clashes left at least 17 PKK militants dead while PKK affiliated locals alleged the Turkish military had bombed civilian areas with artillery.[74]

Hacı Lokman Birlik, brother in law of HDP MP Leyla Birlik, a known political PKK affiliate was killed by Turkish security forces in an armed clash, and his body was tied to a vehicle and dragged along a street by the Turkish police. The pro-government, AKP Sabah newspaper defended the act and claimed that dragging corpses by armored vehicles was standard procedure in case of a body being booby trapped with explosives which is relatively common for terrorists to do .[75]

On 10 October, a double suicide bombing was carried out in Ankara during an anti-war demonstration rally held by pro-Kurdish and communist civilians. The bombing resulted in at least 102 killed amongst pro-peace demonstrators.

November

On 5 November, the Turkish military concluded the 40-day long 2015 Hakkari assault ground offensive in the mountains of the south-eastern border province in which hundreds of PKK fighters were killed, dozens of their bunkers were destroyed and dozens of anti-aircraft weaponry was captured.[76]

On 15 November the Turkish Air Force bombarded 44 different locations with F-16s F-4E 2020 Terminators and unmanned drones in Northern Iraq in response to the PKK attempting to reconstruct depots, barracks, bunkers and hideouts that were destroyed earlier in the year by the air strikes conducted on the 31st of July.[77]

On 21 November the Turkish Air Force struck 23 different locations in the Şırnak border province and in Northern Iraq destroying caches and hideouts severing PKK supply lines.[78] On Saturday these included supply and shelter points in the mountains of Semidinli, Hakkari, south-east Turkey, north of their Iraqi and Iranian borders.

On 22 November the Turkish Air Force struck 7 different locations in the Hakkâri Province on the Iraqi border killing 10 PKK militants and destroying several shelters and supply points.[79] Two civilians were also killed during the curfew in the Nusaybin district of Mardin province on the Sunday in which on Monday 23rd entered its tenth consecutive day. The Turkish chief of General Staff earlier this year released a statement saying the Military is sensitive when it comes to civilian casualties who are caught up in armed clashes.[76][80]

December

On 2 December PKK militants set an remote controlled IED trap for a Turkish Army convoy killing 1 soldier and injuring 9 others in the explosion in the Mardin Province.[81]

On 2 December PKK militants launched an armed attack on a police checkpoint during an curfew in Sur injuring 1 officer and killing 3 PKK insurgents in the clash.[81]

On 8 December the Turkish Air Force launched night-time airstrikes consisting of 10 F-16s into Northern Iraq's Kandil, Harkuk, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions.[82]

On 13 December PKK militants launched 18 different explosive attacks on a police station in Dargeçit consisting of anti-armor RPG rockets and grenades injuring 4 police officers and 5 civilians just hours after counter-insurgency operation in the same town killed 11 militants.[83]

On 15 December the Turkish Army and Police launched a massive scale terror hunt operation in Şırnak Province's towns of Cizre and Silopi imposing an initial 24 hour curfew to "prevent civilian casualties and maximize troop movement through-out the town." The HDP, Turkey's Kurdish and 2nd largest opposition party notably urged PKK militant elements to "resist" the operations. In 7 days Turkish Army troops joined alongside with Police Special Operations backed by tanks, armored vehicle units, and helicopters killed over 127 militants as-well as capturing at-least 3 wanted, high-value PKK leaders as of December 18. Security forces raided cleared abandoned houses and trenches, destroyed barricades while fighting through and liberating militant strong-hold neighborhoods. In total, thousands of kilos of explosives and hundreds of assault weapons were seized. Tank shelling and artillery strikes in the surrounding mountains were also conducted along with the urban offensive that mainly focused on PKK housing, cut-off neighborhood strong holds and sniper positions targeting security forces. It is estimated half the towns population had been driven out since violence sparked-up earlier in the year leaving many un-occupied apartments and houses to be utilized by the PKK to fortify and reinforce their presence prior to this operation.[84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92]

On 18 December the Turkish minister of the interior Efkan Ala declared over 3,000 PKK militant had been neutralized, 10 tons of explosives had been seized, and 2,240 weapons had been captured since the collapse of the ceasefire earlier that year in late July [93]

On 21 December a roadside bomb in Bitlis killed 2 soldiers and injured 8 others during an anti-PKK operation.[94]

On 21 December an armed PKK assault in Sur district of Diyarbakır killed 1 soldier during an Army curfew-reinforcement patrol put in place to let Police forces root out PKK hide-outs.[94]

On 30 December 3 soldiers were wounded when PKK rebels detonated an IED bomb in Sur.[95]

On 31 December 1 police officer was killed and 5 others were injured during an police operation to disassemble barricades and fill in ditches dug up by militants when PKK rebels fired a rocket upon security forces in Cizre. Four of the injured officers who were in urgent condition were sent to the capital, Ankara for further medical treatment.[95]

On 31 December 1 police officer died after a PKK bomb attack in Sur during a house operation against rebels. In the same operation Turkish security forces had seized an RPG, 3 rockets, an anti-tank missile, 30 electric bomb detonators and numerous PKK propaganda leaflets that police say aimed at provoking the public.[95]

2016 Timeline

January

On 1 January, 12 PKK militants, two Police and a civilian were killed in Cizre.[96][97][98] A Police officer was killed in Sur.[96] A Soldier and one civilian was killed in Silopi[98][99] A Turkish tank malfunctioned and was damaged in Cizre.[100] A total of 18 were killed that day.

On 3 January mine trap set by the PKK the previous night in a neighborhood killed 3 Turkish soldiers in Sur.[101]

On 4 January rocket attacks launched by the PKK's youth militant arm YDG-H at security forces in Şırnak resulted in an incurring shoot-out in which 2 rebels where killed.[102]

On 7 January Turkish Forces killed 16 militants in Cizre and 2 in Sur bringing the PKK death toll over the last 3 weeks in the [103] to 426.[104]

On 7 January the Turkish Military captured 58 PKK militants fleeing to Iraq disguised as local villagers in the town of Silopi of the Şırnak Province

On 8 January Turkish Police Special Operations, Rapid Response Force riot police and Police intelligence teams raided a HDP Kurdish opposition party's office in Istanbul arresting 5 Kurdish politicians after Police were informed that the murder weapon of the July 22nd 2015 murder of 2 police officers conducted by PKK rebels in their sleep in Ceylanpınar was being held in that office.[104][105]

On 9 January a soldier and a police officer were shot-dead in an attack by PKK rebels in Diyarbakır, Turkey's largest predominantly Kurdish south-eastern city.[106]

On 10 January, heavy clashes during a counter-terrorism operation between the PKK and police in eastern Van killed 12 PKK rebels and a police officer. Security forces say the operation successfully prevented a large scale attack against government buildings.[106]

On 10 January Turkish troops killed 20 PKK militants in Cizre, Silopi and Sur during clashes.[106]

On 12 January Turkish Police detained 16 suspects belonging to the YDG-H in Elazığ during a raid in which documents explicitly planning a crowd demonstration to harm public buildings and boast PKK propaganda was seized similar to the January 7th elementary school burning incident in Sirnak. The documents themselves are believed to be handed down from the PKK to the YDG-H youth group.[107]

On 12 January the Turkish Air Force conducted night-time air-strikes on PKK camps in the Great Zab, Gare, Avashin, and Basyan regions of northern Iraq using four F-16D's and two F-4 Terminator 2020 technologically modernized heavy combat aircraft whilst using drones to locate camps, quartering caves and shelters prior to the strike. In the same statement to press the Turkish Armed Forces expressed that 578 terrorists had been killed since December 15, bringing the overall PKK death toll to 3,678 since July 2015.[108][109][110]

On 14 January a car bomb targeting a police station and police housing unit adjacent to the station killed 6 people and injured 40 in Çınar, Diyarbakır, southeastern Turkey. Amongst the dead where relatives of police including a family consisting of a wife, a 5 year old and an infant. Upon the initial bomb attack, PKK militants opened fire using rockets and assault weapons on the security complex resulting in a fierce fire-fight.[111][112] The PKK claim the attack left over 30 Police officers dead as quoted by pro-Kurdish media, however admits than five civilian were killed as a result of the attack.[113]

On 14 January Turkish Army troops killed 19 PKK militants in a government operations as-well as capturing a total of 10 PKK militants and affiliates. According to the Turkish General Staff, 12 were killed in heavy clashes in Cizre, 5 were killed and 10 were captured in Silopi, and 2 were killed in Sur.[114][115][116]

On 15 January 1 Turkish Police Special Operations officer was wounded and killed in an raid on a PKK Sleeper cell in Siirt by sniper fire from PKK rebels. According to Turkish media reports, over 15,000 people attended the funeral of the slain officer Yalçın Yamaner in Tokat. The family of the slain officer whom were being accommodated in police family lodges are to be bought a house on the behalf of the General Directorate of Security.[116][117] [118][119][120][121]

On 18 January a total of 3 service members of the Turkish Police Special Operation Department were killed and 7 were wounded in a night-time IED trap set the day before targeting the convoy in Idil. Ensuing heavy clashes reportedly lasted till dawn.[122]

On 18 January 2 Police Special Operations officers were killed and 12 were wounded in the Yenimahalle neighborhood of Şırnak Province when a police bus was struck by a rocket fired by PKK insurgents.[122]

On 18 January a Turkish Army specialized sergeant succumbed to his injures and died shortly after being critically wounded by sniper fire in Sur.[122]

On 19 January Cizre municipal council member Abdülhamit Poçal and Selman Erdoğan were killed and IMC TV cameraman Refik Tekin along with 10 others were wounded during a firefight between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants though it is not clear who opened fire on the group. Pro-Kurdish sources allege that it was the Turkish side.[123][124][125]

On 19 January Turkish Forces conducted an operation extracting a family from their neighborhood who had received threats from the PKK to not leave and stoping those who attempt to. The PKK calls for Kurds in the region to not leave their houses and participate in the so-called resistance.[126]

On 19 January 3 Police Special Operations members were wounded when PKK militants opened fire on units removing roadblocks, dismantling barricades and filling up trenches set up by PKK elements.[127]

On 20 January 2 Turkish soldiers were severally injured and later died when a home made bomb planted by PKK militants detonated during an ant-terror operation in Sur.[128]

On 21 January new Turkish Military raids is Silopi led to the discovery of a U.S. made RQ-20 Puma UAV in the hands of PKK militants. Turkish Military officials believe that the ariel surveillance drone was handed to PKK elements by the YPG, the PKK's sister group based in Syria who are backed by the U.S. despite fierce Turkish objection. The discovery of the drone by Turkish troops further confirmed Turkey's suspicions of U.S. and various European weapons being supplied to the YPG would eventually end up in PKK hands. Despite the PKK being recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, and the European Union, its sister organization, in which its fighters often overlap, is only recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey.[129][130]

On 27 January while clearing out boobytrapped barricades in Sur, 4 members of the Turkish security forces were killed in a simultaneously launched attack consisting of pre-planted remote detonated explosives, rocket and sniper fire by PKK militants consisting of 3 army soldiers and a Police Special Operations officer while also wounding critically wounding 6 others. According to the Turkish Army, ensuing fierce clashes killed 9 PKK militants.[131][132]

On 29 January 2 Turkish troops were killed in separate armed attacks by PKK militants in Sur and Cizre. The soldiers reportedly succumbed to their injuries "despite all medical intervention". [133]


See also

Cizre operation (2015)

References

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Bibliography
  • The Daily Telegraph (English)
  • Le Figaro (French)
  • L'Orient-Le Jour (French)
  • BBC News (English)
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