Continued Clashes in Southeast Turkey

Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacked police forces in the center of Diyarbakir early Sunday, September 15, killing two officers and injuring three others with an RPG. According to Reuters, this attack occurred after police attempted to fill PKK trenches in a neighborhood of the city. Following the RPG fire, Turkish security forces launched ground and air operations against PKK forces in the area and urged all residents of Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish city in Turkey, to stay indoors. Clashes between Kurdish militants and security forces in eastern Turkey also left at least four dead and 'many' injured on Saturday, September 4. In one incident, PKK gunmen killed a civilian and injured a local official in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari province, near the Iranian border, after the official and his companion ignored a PKK checkpoint. In another incident in the city of Cizre, multiple gunshots and explosions were heard on Saturday. Leyla İmret, the mayor of Cizre, told news outlets that clashes occurred between security forces and PKK militants, resulting in 'two deaths and many injuries.' Local officials had declared a curfew in Cizre on Friday to prevent further PKK attacks. Since the two-year ceasefire between the Turkish government and the PKK was violated in July, clashes between Turkish military and police forces and PKK members, who are based in the mountains of northern Iraq, have become a daily occurrence. On Friday, PKK members attacked a police station in Tunceli, where a bullet struck a young girl, who later died in the hospital. In this attack, one police officer and two PKK attackers were also killed. Previously, on Wednesday, September 11, Turkish F-16s bombed PKK positions in southeastern Turkey after militants killed a Turkish army soldier in the area on the same day. According to government officials, retaliatory attacks from both sides since July have resulted in the deaths of at least 70 government security personnel and 'hundreds' of PKK members. These clashes have also fueled political unrest in Turkey, as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost its parliamentary majority since June, leaving the country under a temporary government. Coalition talks in parliament have also failed; Turkey's next elections are scheduled for November 1. The People's Democratic Party (HDP), a leftist party supporting Kurdish rights, received more votes than expected in the June elections. According to Reuters, critics accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government of exploiting the resurgence of violence in southeastern Turkey to scare voters away from pro-Kurdish parties. In this context, claims from PJAK regarding 'the killing of two guards' in an attack on a police base, the bombing of PKK positions by Turkish F-16s, and Turkey's roadmap after the November 1 elections are significant.