Kurd clashes with Turkish army escalate

Article reports of clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish separatists in south-east Turkey which escalated in August 2012 leaving 22 people dead and more than 15 wounded.

Turkish officials confirmed that the clashes began after a group of around 200 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ party, or PKK, crossed into Turkey from northern Iraq

The PKK is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US.

It launched a guerrilla campaign in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland in the south-east of Turkey.

It has now dropped its claim to an independent Kurdish state, but says it is fighting for autonomy and the cultural rights of the Kurdish people.

ESO: Background information: Turkey vows revenge for Kurdish attacks http://www.europeansources.info/record/turkey-vows-revenge-for-kurdish-attacks/

Wikipedia: Iraqi Turkmens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkomans_of_Iraq

Website: Turkmen International Homepage http://www.turkmens.com/

BBC News, 5.8.12: Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels 'killed in clashes' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19134339

BBC News, 10.8.12: Will Syria's Kurds benefit from the crisis? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19197169

BBC News, 12.8.12: Kurdish MP in Turkey abducted 'by PKK' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19234765

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