Time for Peace Talks with PKK Over: Turkey’s President Erdogan

Time for Peace Talks with PKK Over: Turkey’s President Erdogan
Tue Apr 5, 2016 11:04:13

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to continue operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, saying there remains no room for peace talks with the militant group.

Erdogan said in a speech in the capital, Ankara, on Monday that PKK militants should either surrender or they will be “neutralized” by Turkish security forces.

The PKK abandoned a ceasefire with Ankara in July 2015, about two years after it was clinched between both sides to end a conflict that has killed 40,000 people since 1984.

Turkey has been involved in a large-scale campaign against the PKK since last July in the country’s southern border region. It has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq.

According to government figures, some 400 Turkish soldiers and police officers were killed in the operations. Opposition political parties say between 500 and 1,000 civilians were also killed.

S/SH 11

Category:
string(1921) "[{"id":"1791167","sort":"3523865","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/02/19/alalam_635915109800969393_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"VIDEO: Turkey Says Killed 200 PKK Militants in Diyarbakir"} ,{"id":"1792330","sort":"3523864","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/02/23/alalam_635918338223516633_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Turkey PM Insists Syrian Kurds Connected to PKK"} ,{"id":"1795378","sort":"3523863","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/04/alalam_635926853772411431_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Four Turkish Soldiers Killed in Clean-up Operations against PKK"} ,{"id":"1795964","sort":"3523862","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/06/alalam_635928699346176633_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Turkish Army Troops Kill 1,250 PKK Militants in SE Turkey since last July: Report"} ,{"id":"1797126","sort":"3523861","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/09/alalam_635931413133510007_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Turkey to End Anti-PKK Military Attacks in Soon: Minister"} ,{"id":"1799047","sort":"3523860","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/15/alalam_635936470592421924_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"4 Killed in New Clashes between PKK, Turkey’s Forces in Diyarbakir"} ,{"id":"1799155","sort":"3523859","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/15/alalam_635936625935028536_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"PKK Leader: Turkey’s Kurds Full of Feelings of Revenge"} ,{"id":"1799392","sort":"3523858","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/16/alalam_635937330103939372_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Turkish Police Detain 20 PKK-Linked in ‘Anti-Terror Operation’ in Istanbul"} ,{"id":"1800228","sort":"3523857","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/19/alalam_635939703907267984_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"PKK Kurdish Terrorists May Launch Offensives on Europe: Turkish President Erdogan"} ,{"id":"1802010","sort":"3523856","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2016/03/25/alalam_635945005490844224_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"2 Turkish Soldiers Killed, 15 Injured in Kurdish PKK Car Bombing in Turkey + VIDEO"} ]"