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

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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
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WILSON