Cablegate: Pkk Attack Kills 12

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P 011503Z OCT 07
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UNCLAS ANKARA 002441

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR P, EUR/SE, NEA/I

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL TU
SUBJECT: PKK ATTACK KILLS 12

1. (SBU) A September 29 attack on a minibus in southeastern
Turkey resulted in the deaths of 12 Turkish citizens. Two
more were injured. GOT officials believe the attack was
carried out by PKK terrorists. According to press reports,
the bus was returning from a worksite in the Altinsu District
of Sirnak Province, near Turkey's border with Iraq, to the
villagers' home in Besagac in the Beytussebap District of
Sirnak. The passengers were reportedly working on a water
pipeline project and were on their way home in the early
evening when, according to survivors, the bus in which they
were riding came under heavy automatic weapons fire from both
sides of the road. Among those killed were five temporary
village guards, two volunteer village guards, and five
civilians.

GOT OFFICIALS FIERCE IN REACTION
--------------------------------

2. (SBU) President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan both issued
statements condemning the attack. Gul said, "No person or
power can hurt the unity and indivisible integrity of our
country. I want to stress that those who resort to terrorism
and shed blood and tears and slay our citizens without pity
will be eradicated in the face of the strong will of our
nation and state." He added that such attacks would only
serve to increase the determination of the Turkish state in
the fight against terrorism. Erdogan similarly said the
GOT's fight against terrorism will continue, adding that the
attack was one of the PKK's "last convulsions." Sirnak
Governor Selahattin Apari's remarks to over 2500 at the
September 30 funeral rang a familiar refrain implicating U.S.
involvement when he said, "...we know very well whose weapons
the terrorists are using."

KURDISH POLITICIANS NOT QUITE THERE
-----------------------------------

3. (SBU) The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP)
issued a statement deploring the attack. The DTP release
included criticism of the government's continued offensive
operations against the PKK throughout the southeast. DTP
co-chairs Nurettin Demirtas and Selma Irmak conveyed their
condolences to the relatives of those who were killed in
condemning the attack. At the same time, they questioned the
immediate assumption that the PKK was responsible for the
shootings and urged GOT officials to investigate the incident
to shed light on the perpetrators. The DTP statement also
urged restraint by Turkish security forces and the opening of
political channels between the GOT and Kurdish
representatives, including the DTP.

4. (SBU) COMMENT: This attack is the worst in terms of
casualties since the May bombing in Ankara, and the worst
single shooting incident this year. Although the pressure on
the GOT to green light a cross-border operation has
diminished somewhat in recent weeks, these attacks underscore
the continued threat the PKK poses, particularly in Turkey's
southeast. The correlation between such attacks and reports
of PKK use of U.S.-origin weapons also continues to be made
with regularity by GOT officials, complicating our ongoing
efforts to reinvigorate the bilateral relationship.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON

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