Erdogan Vows to ‘Cleanse’ Turkey of PKK as Attacks Kill 25

Opposition Party: Govt Using Curfew to Destroy Kurdish Towns

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today hyped recent military offensives against Kurdish towns in the southeast, which killed at least 25, saying they would continue to “annihilate” PKK forces and the buildings they occupy until Turkey is “cleansed” of the Kurdish rebels.

The attacks were carried out in the towns of Cizre and Silopi, where the Turkish government imposed a full curfew and then began a harsh crackdown, which is both fueling unrest among local civilians and condemnation from the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

HDP local official Ferhat Encu says the military is using the curfews as an excuse to destroy Kurdish towns, and are carrying out “untargeted attacks and shelling” against neighborhoods in those towns, turning it into an all-out attack on the nation’s Kurdish minority.

Despite intermittent fire from Turkish troops into the towns, locals reported protests throughout the night, with civilians marching through the street banging pans and vowing to support resistance against the military operation.

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.