VZCZCXRO5712
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #1160 1351417
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151417Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2104
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFIUU/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFIUU/425ABS IZMIR TU//CC//
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEPGAB/MNF-I C2X BAGHDAD IZ
UNCLAS ANKARA 001160
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU IZ
SUBJECT: Update on PKK Violence (April 2007)
REF: ANKARA 750 and previous
(U) Sensitive but unclassified - please protect accordingly.
1. (SBU) This is another in a series of periodic reports on PKK
violence in Turkey. Our primary sources for these reports are
mainstream Turkish press services, such as the Anatolian News
Agency, and international wire services. While these are more
reliable than most Turkish press sources, they are not necessarily
unimpeachable. A major source is the Turkish Armed Forces General
Staff (TGS) website which documents contacts/clashes with the PKK.
Press services sympathetic to the PKK, such as Neu-Isenburg People's
Defense Forces and Firat News Agency, tend to report higher numbers
of the Turkish Security Forces casualties and are often otherwise
unreliable.
2. (U) In April 2007, 17 security personnel died in clashes with the
PKK or in IED explosions. In addition, a village guard drowned as
he was crossing a river during an operation in Sirnak province.
During the same period 16 security officials were wounded in action
(WIA). One villager was injured by a PKK-planted IED in Sirnak
province.
3. (U) One PKK terrorist died when the explosive he was preparing
went off in Mersin. The body of another PKK terrorist was found in
the field as operations were going on in Bitlis. 47 PKK terrorists
were arrested.
4. (U) The Turkish military reported 27 clashes between security
forces and PKK terrorists in the region. Security forces unearthed
dozens of PKK shelters and caves and seized booby-trapped land
mines; other explosives, including A-4 and TNT; Kalashnikov rifles;
cartridges; hand grenades; pistols; night vision binoculars; TV
sets; satellite antennas; and radios.
5. (U) Activity as reported by TGS appears to be significantly
higher for April than the previous month:
CLASHES NUMBER
March 2007 13 clashes
April 2007 38 clashes
CASUALTIES
Security Forces
March 2007 5 KIA, 4 WIA
April 2007 18 KIA, 16 WIA
PKK
March 2007 9 KIA, 18 captured/arrested
April 2007 2 KIA, 47 captured/arrested
CACHES RECOVERED
March 2007 61
April 2007 109
WILSON