TURKEY: PKK VIOLENCE REPORT, EXPLOSION IN ISTANBUL

UNCLAS ANKARA 004778 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PTER TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKEY: PKK VIOLENCE REPORT, EXPLOSION IN ISTANBUL INJURES FIVE CIVILIANS REF: ANKARA 4587 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) This is another in a series of periodic reports on PKK violence in Turkey (see reftels). Our primary sources for these reports are mainstream Turkish press services, such as the Anatolian News Agency, and international wire services. While these sources are more reliable than most Turkish press sources, they are not necessarily unimpeachable. Press services sympathetic to the PKK, such as Neu-Isenburg People's Defense Forces and Firat News Agency, tend to report higher numbers of Turkish Security Forces casualties. ¶2. (U) According to press reports, three members of the Turkish Security Forces were killed and four were wounded over the period August 7 - August 13. Two PKK terrorists were killed and nineteen were arrested. Six civilians, including the son of the NCO killed during a home invasion on August 7 (see reftels),were wounded. On August 13, an explosion in front of an internet cafe in Istanbul injured the other five civilians. In the same period, Turkish forces seized 11.7 kg of explosives and 31 handguns (20 GLOCK, 5 WALTHER, and 6 SIG SAUER) during counter-PKK engagements. ¶3. (U) We estimate that in 2006, approximately twenty-three civilians and up to 194 members of the Turkish Security Forces have perished as a result of PKK violence. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON