VZCZCXRO1466
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #1230 1411346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211346Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2201
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 001230
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU IZ
SUBJECT: Update on PKK Violence (May 1-15, 2007)
REF: ANKARA 1160 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) From May 1-15, 2007, six security personnel died in clashes
with the PKK or in IED explosions in Diyarbakir, Sirnak and Hakkari
provinces. During the same period 19 security officials were
wounded.
3. (U) The TGS website for the first half of May did not refer to
any PKK terrorists being killed, but did report that security forces
arrested 27 PKK terrorists. Among those 27, three were turned over
by the KDP at the Turkey-Iraq border, and another three by Iranian
authorities.
4. (U) The Turkish military reported 20 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) Quarterly statistics:
--NOTE: May 2007 figures are for May 1-15 only.
CLASHES NUMBER
May 2007 20 clashes
April 2007 38 clashes
March 2007 13 clashes
CASUALTIES
Security Forces
May 2007 6 KIA, 19 WIA
April 2007 18 KIA, 16 WIA
March 2007 5 KIA, 4 WIA
PKK
May 2007 0 reported KIA, 27 captured/arrested
April 2007 2 KIA, 47 captured/arrested
March 2007 9 KIA, 18 captured/arrested
CACHES RECOVERED
May 2007 76
April 2007 109
March 2007 61
WILSON