After the 2+ year ceasefire collapsed with Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish targets in northern Iraq, the resumed war between Turkey and the PKK seems to be picking up dramatic steam, with a major PKK ambush killing at least 15 soldiers over the weekend.
This has Turkey beating the war drums even more, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowing to see the military “wipe out” the PKK outright, saying the country would never be discouraged from its war on terror against the Kurdish faction.
The war against the PKK has lasted over 30 years at this point, but there was considerable hope in 2013 when the two sides agreed to a ceasefire and peace talks. The talks stalled pretty quickly, but the peace endured, at least for awhile.
While President Erdogan railed against the “treacherous attack by the separatist terrorist organization,” however, it was actually his order to attack the PKK in Iraq earlier this summer that killed the peace, a move that was part of an effort to convince an overtly racist nationalist party to join his coalition. This effort failed, but the war continues.
