PKK Accused Of Deadly Suicide Bombing In Eastern Turkey

Two Turkish security troops have been killed and 24 wounded in a suicide attack by Kurdish PKK militants, the regional governor’s office says.

Many people are scratching their heads wondering how the US went from supporting the Kurds in Iraq and Syria to backing Turkey’s campaign against them in the former (and turning a blind eye to it in the latter), but the reality is that the US was manipulating them as geopolitical pawns from the get-go. The attack came after a two-year ceasefire ended and Turkey started up air raids on PKK sites in Iraq.

But so far the bombardments have focused far more on the Kurdish rebels, and a report by Turkey’s official Anatolia news agency of 260 alleged PKK militants killed and up to 400 wounded was the first concrete indication of the scale of the casualties. The KRG also denounced the PKK for carrying out an attack on an oil pipeline last week that runs between the KRG and Turkey.

There is no good reason for U.S. officials to continue biting their tongues regarding Erdogan’s dictatorial tendencies and his rejection of Turkey’s traditional Western orientation. “He is openly opposed to it”, main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said in a recent TV interview in Haberturk.

“If there is an aim to take the country to elections through blood politics, that would be extremely costly”.

The violence also comes with Turkey still without a permanent government since June 7 legislative elections, when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority, much to the chagrin of Erdogan.

“Turkey has always been against a very strong contiguous Kurdistan”, Walker said.

Mr Erdogan has made little secret of his preference for single-party rule.

But it would have gained a free hand for taking on the PKK inside of both Turkey and Iraq. While he publicly resists the populist calls to outright ban the HDP, Erdogan recently proclaimed that “…executives of this party should pay.

The MHP supports the government crackdown on the PKK, hailing the end of the process. The government has conducted nearly daily airstrikes at PKK bases in northern Iraq while the rebels have attacked Turkey’s security forces.

“Now, we are in August 2015. Have their weapons been laid down?” he asked.

Turkish analysts believe Erdogan ultimately hopes to benefit politically from renewed clashes.

According to an AFP toll, at least 17 members of the security forces have now been killed in attacks blamed on the PKK since the fresh crisis erupted last week.

The PKK’s Syrian off-shoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), has gained grounds in northern Syria whilst battling IS militants. But for the past few days, air strikes have been nearly exclusively aimed at the Kurdish rebel group’s bases in neighboring Iraq.

“Some 99 percent of the burden of these attacks is borne alone by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and its people”, the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement.