TURKEY: PKK VIOLENCE REPORT, 11 CIVILIANS KILLED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005398 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKEY: PKK VIOLENCE REPORT, 11 CIVILIANS KILLED REF: A. ANKARA 5269 ¶B. ANKARA 5249 ¶C. ANKARA 5228 ¶D. ANKARA 5125 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) This is another in a series of periodic reports on PKK violence in Turkey (ref a). 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. The Turkish Armed Forces' General Staff (TGS),however, has recently introduced a product on its website documenting each contact/clash with the PKK (www.tsk.mil.tr/guncel/index/htm). This information will serve as an additional source for these reports. ¶2. (U) SUMMARY: One bombing occurred during the September 4-13 period, with a total of 11 killed, including the person thought to have been carrying the device; at least 15 were wounded. During that same period, a 12-year old girl was killed by security forces firing at a vehicle in which two alleged PKK members were riding. The PKK members were also killed. Turkish security forces defused a bomb set to blow up a bridge in Hatay province and reported recovering additional explosives, RPG rounds, hand grenades, rifles, and ammunition in several different locations. Turkish PM Erdogan officially named retired General Edip Baser as the country's Special Envoy to counter terrorism, specifically the PKK threat. END SUMMARY ¶3. (SBU) Eleven people were killed and at least 15 wounded by an explosion that occurred in the evening hours of September 12 in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir (Ref a). According to a statement issued by the Diyarbakir governor's office and to police sources, the bomb was made of C-4, consistent with other PKK explosive devices, and was concealed in a thermos-like container. According to these reports, the bomb exploded while being moved, killing the person carrying it. Of the remaining ten who perished, seven were children. No organization has claimed responsibility for the attack; however, the overwhelmingly Kurdish population of the city has rejected the official explanation of PKK involvement. Instead, many are comparing the incident to the November 2005 Semdinli bookstore bombing and blaming elements of the security forces, who they claim wish to sabotage an initiative announced September 11 by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party to encourage the PKK to launch a unilateral ceasefire. ¶4. (U) Three people were killed and one injured September 5 in the southeastern city of Batman when security forces opened fire on a vehicle reportedly carrying two PKK militants. A 12-year old girl was among those killed, while the girl's mother was injured. After a search of the vehicle, Turkish security forces reportedly recovered 2 KGs of explosive materiel, four electronic detonators, two kalashnikov rifles, cartridges and four grenades. ¶5. (U) According to press reports, two PKK members were arrested in Istanbul September 10. Security officials quoted in the press stated that the two were allegedly involved in bomb attacks that occurred on April 5, 2006 and August 27, ¶2006. Five individuals were arrested at the same time for aiding and abetting PKK operations in Istanbul. On September 5, one PKK militant surrendered to Turkish Jandarma in Agri Province. That brings the number of PKK militants who have surrendered to Turkish security forces this year to 36. ¶6. (U) During the reporting period, based on information from the TGS website, security forces discovered land mines and other explosives in several locations. Land mines were found in five separate locations in Bingol Province; grenades ANKARA 00005398 002 OF 002 and RPG-7 shells near Cukuca; and 6.7 kilograms of C-4 explosives, 15 fuses, and 7 grenades in Baskale near Van. No arrests were made in conjunction with these discoveries. On September 11, security forces defused a bomb mechanism consisting of 2 kilograms of explosive materiel under the Bedirge Bridge on the Hatay-Serinyol highway. ¶7. (U) On September 13, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan officially appointed retired General Edip Baser as the country's Special Envoy for countering terrorism. Baser met that same day with U.S. Special Envoy for countering the PKK General (ret'd.) Joseph Ralston in Ankara (ref b). Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON