Kurdish Rebels Kill 13 Turkish Soldiers

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/world/europe/15turkey.html

Kurdish Rebels Kill 13 Turkish Soldiers

By SEBNEM ARSU

Published: July 14, 2011

ISTANBUL — Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey ambushed

a group of soldiers near Diyarbakir on Thursday, killing 13 and wounding 7, the

Turkish military said on its Web site.

The attack, one of the deadliest on Turkish forces in recent years, was

denounced by political leaders across the country. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan said Turkey had the strength and determination to defeat terrorists and

would do so " without ever compromising on democracy, law and brotherhood. "

In the ambush, which was mounted in a predominantly Kurdish rural area, the

rebels used small arms and hand grenades, which started a fire, the military

said. Seven insurgents were also killed in the fighting, the Turkish military

said.

A major rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, had warned that it would

start a new wave of attacks if the government failed to produce by Friday a

tangible plan for resolving the Kurdish conflict.

The group, known as the P.K.K., which are the initials of its Kurdish name,

intensified its attacks in the region in June, killing several soldiers, when 36

Kurdish candidates won seats in a parliamentary election. Local courts blocked 6

of the 36 from taking their seats because they are in jail on terrorism charges.

The remaining successful Kurdish candidates then refused to take the oath of

office.

Hours before the attack on Thursday, some of the Kurdish candidates met with

officials of the governing party, the Justice and Development Party, in Ankara,

the capital.

But the talks ended without an agreement after the Kurds insisted that one

successful candidate, Hatip Dicle, be allowed to take his seat in Parliament;

Mr. Dicle has been convicted on charges related to terrorism.

At the same time, more than 800 Kurdish delegates met in Diyarbakir and issued a

declaration of " democratic autonomy " for the predominantly Kurdish region. They

said they chose the term to make it clear that they were not trying to challenge

Turkey's territorial or national integrity, but rather asserting their freedom

and ethnic rights within Turkey.

The Justice and Development Party has expanded political and cultural rights for

more than 12 million ethnic Kurds in Turkey during its nearly 10 years as the

governing party. But the party has dismissed demands that Kurdish ethnic

identity be recognized in a new constitution that Parliament is expected to

draft in its next term.

Many people say the current Constitution, written under the auspices of the

military after a coup in 1980, is a source of ethnic friction and discontent.

But in the efforts to resolve the conflict, both the government and the

opposition have excluded the leading pro-Kurdish political party, Peace and

Democracy, because of accusations that it acts as the political wing of the

P.K.K.

Kurdish leaders expressed sadness over the violence on Thursday, without

denouncing the P.K.K., which Western nations classify as a terrorist

organization.

" Youngsters pay the price of politics falling short of resolutions, of

uncourageous politics, " said Selahattin Demirtas, deputy chairman of Peace and

Development, according to the semiofficial Anatolian news agency.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 15, 2011

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a pro-Kurdish political

party. It is called Peace and Democracy, not Peace and Development.