Turkey Pounds PKK, President Vows ‘Relentless War’

State Media: 390 'Terrorists' Killed So Far in Airstrikes

Turkish warplanes have carried out another round of airstrikes against the country’s southeast today, with 17 separate strikes against targets belonging to the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), with which Turkey has recently abandoned a two-year ceasefire to resume hostilities.

Despite growing international calls for a return to the ceasefire, and suggestions from PKK leaders over the weekend that they too would welcome it, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to rule this out, saying the country will continue a “relentless war” until not one Kurdish terrorist is left in the country. He insisted simple disarmament of the rebels would no longer be acceptable.

Turkish state media has claimed that in the two weeks since Turkey resumed hostilities against the PKK, 390 of them have been killed. This includes strikes both in southeastern Turkey and in northern Iraq, where a number of PKK fighters moved during the ceasefire period.

The PKK has launched several attacks of their own since hostilities resumed, killing at least 29 members of Turkish security forces over the same period. This included a bombing attack against an Istanbul police station yesterday, far outside of the area where the fighting is happening.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.