Turkish attack on Kurdish rebels threatens peace talks
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Hopes for peace talks between the Turkish government and separatist Kurdish rebels appeared dashed Tuesday after the Turkish military's attack on rebel bases.
Monday's attack caused heavy damage and inflamed Kurds in southeast Turkey, said Bakhtiar Dogan, a spokesman for the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).
The bombing "marks the end of the peace process," Dogan said Tuesday. He said an official announcement on the status of peace talks would have to come from the group's jailed political leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
The attack came two days before Wednesday's deadline that Ocalan had set for peace negotiations between the PKK and the Turkish military.
Since March 2013, Turkey and the PKK — branded a terrorist group by the United States and European Union — have been under a cease-fire agreement that ended nearly three decades of civil war.
Turkey's Hurriyet Daily reported that bombs "rained down" upon the PKK from F-4 and F-16 fighter jets Monday in response to the PKK shooting at Turkish bases.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the attack.
The PKK said the hour-long bombing hit PKK bases around the mountainous area of Daglica in Turkey's Hakkari Province, along the northernmost part of the Iraqi-Turkish border.
Dogan said the PKK tried to fight back with anti-aircraft missiles. In a statement, the PKK said the Turkish military followed up the airstrikes with artillery shelling. The PKK said there were no casualties. It denied initiating the fighting.
The attack came as a PKK-affiliated military group in Syria battles to defend the Syrian city of Kobani on the Turkish border against Islamic State militants.
The Turkish government's refusal to intervene militarily there has led to anger among the Kurdish minority in the southern part of Turkey. Last week, three days of violent Kurdish protests across Turkey left 30 people dead.
Zagros Hiwa, a spokesman for the PKK's political wing based in Iraq, said Tuesday that the group was investigating the attack to determine the next step and would wait until after Wednesday's deadline to make any official statements.
"We don't want to exaggerate events too much," Hiwa said, but "if negotiations aren't started, there will be implications."