The Defence Regions of Medya- Qendil Mountains: According to a statement released by the Defence Forces of Kurdistan (HPG), a Turkish helicopter was hit and many Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash between HPG forces and Turkish troops.
According to HPG’s statement, in the morning of 7th June, in the pseudo-borders of Northern and Southern Kurdistan, clashes erupted between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish army. After an intensive bombing of the area with helicopters, Turkish soldiers tried to cross the border. As the clashes followed, Kurdish guerrillas used heavy arms like B7; a Turkish helicopter was hit and forced to live the area. A number of Turkish soldiers were killed or injured.
The HPG’s statement claims that the Turkish army was trying to capture the strategic important areas of Small Gare and Ertus hill, but they failed. The operations in the area are still continuing.
Turkish army has yesterday bombarded the area of Zirve village and Nevala Mahmut in Besta of Sirnak.
HPG is the defensive military wing of The Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK), founded in 1973 as the result of the continuous and systematic oppressions and the denial of the Kurdish nation by the occupying powers of Kurdistan. The PKK took up arm in 1984 since all the possible political and diplomatic means applied for 11 years in between 1973-84 proved exhausted. The PKK however declared its first unilateral ceasefire in 1993 since it believed the arm struggle had hit its targets. Since 1993 to date the PKK has declared 6 unilateral ceasefires in 6 different occasions and called upon Ankara to solve the Kurdish problem in a peaceful democratic way.
Despite the facts that the PKK has declared 6 unilateral ceasefires and also it sent peace groups in two different occasions yet the PKK is considered as a ‘terrorist’ organization by Ankara and the US. It also continues to be on the blacklist in EU despite the court ruling, which overturned the decision to place the Kurdish freedom movement on the EU’s terror list. “By labelling PKK as a terrorist organisation, the EU and the US are giving Turkey a green light to target its civilians. They gave the Turkish government a free hand to do what it will, a mother of Kurdish martyr said”.
It should be noted that after 1954, apart from the Korean war in1949-52 and the invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish Army operations have continued to be exclusively against the Kurds.