PKK KILLS NINE IN SIIRT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 04266 E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR TAGS: PINS PTER TU SUBJECT: PKK KILLS NINE IN SIIRT ¶1. (C) - ENTIRE TEXT. ¶2. PKK TERRORISTS KILLED NINE VILLAGERS AND 350 SHEEP IN YAGZIKOYMAK VILLAGE IN THE URUH DISTRICT OF SOUTHEASTERN SIIRT PROVINCE MARCH 29. THE TERRORISTS ATTACKED TWO DIFFERENT HOUSES IN THE VILLAGE, STRANGLING FOUR MEN IN ONE HOUSE AND THREE MORE IN ANOTHER. LATER, TERRORISTS, PERHAPS A DIFFERENT GROUP, SHOT TWO MEN AT A HOUSE TWO KILOMETERS AWAY. TERRORISTS ALSO EXECUTED 350 SHEEP WITH MACHINE GUN FIRE, ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS. THE SHEEP WERE IN A CAVE USED AS A SHEEPPEN AND WERE BEING GUARDED BY SOME OF THE MURDERED VILLAGERS. ¶3. HURRIYET SAID THAT THE VILLAGE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN ATTACKED BY THE PKK AND HAD VILLAGE GUARDS AS WELL AS A POLICE STATION. HENCE, THE TERRORISTS KILLED THEIR VICTIMS BY STRANGLING TO AVOID DETECTION. ¶4. AMCONSUL ADANA HAS SPOKEN WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE IN SIIRT, AND THEY CONFIRMED THE ATTACK. ADANA NOTED THAT THIS IS THE FIRST MAJOR PKK ACTION OF THE SEASON, AFTER A LONG HIATUS CAUSED BY THE REGION'S HARSH WINTER. ¶5. COMMENT: THE ATTACK CAME ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1986 KILLING OF PKK LEADER MAHSUN KORKMAZ BY SECURITY OFFICIALS, AS WELL AS ON THE LAST DAY OF NEVRUZ, THE NEW YEAR HOLIDAY. IT MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE INSURRECTION IN TURKEY'S SOUTHEAST. ¶6. DURING THE WINTER HIATUS, THE PKK HAD AN INTENSE INTERNAL DEBATE ON THE THE USEFULNESS OF ITS TERRORIST CAMPAIGN AGAINST VILLAGERS. THIS LATEST ATTACK WOULD INDICATE THAT THE DEBATE HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN FAVOR OF CONTINUED TERRORISM. WE NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT THE TERRORISTS DID NOT TARGET WOMEN AND CHILDREN THIS TIME, AS THEY DID IN SEVERAL OUTRAGES LAST SUMMER. STRAUSZ-HUPE