Articles About Terrorist Activities

Herald Tribune

Turkey will launch its first 24-hour television channel broadcasting in the once-banned Kurdish language next week in an apparent attempt to cut support for Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in the country’s southeast.

Analysts say the state-run news channel is aimed at taking viewers from the Kurdish Roj TV, a satellite station based in Belgium that is popular with many of the country’s estimated 14 million Kurds but has angered Turkey for broadcasting statements by rebel commanders.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, has been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

The separatist terrorism targeting Turkey’s unity and solidarity could not reach its target thanks to the will and determination of Turkish people and army, prime minister said late Wednesday in a message he sent to the General Staff following a PKK attack that killed three soldiers.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug after three Turkish troops were killed and nine others were injured in an armed attack of PKK terrorists in southeastern Turkey.  

Erdogan offered his condolences in his message, and vowed that Turkish people and army would not allow separatist terrorism to reach its target. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Ankara on Wednesday, where he met with Turkish leaders to discuss the terror organization PKK, as the diplomatic contacts between the two countries gains momentum.

Maliki, accompanied by six Iraqi ministers during his visit, met Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey and Iraq would continue their joint fight against terrorism, Erdogan said following his meeting Maliki.

The two prime ministers discussed possible political and military steps that could be taken against the terror organization PKK during their meeting. Read the rest of this entry »

Sedat Laciner

Some claim that Turkey is one of the transit countries of drug trafficking and therefore she is not a consumer country; so the fight against narcotics should not be one of the main concerns of Turkey. Even, within some conversations, it is possible to encounter certain arguments claiming that narcotic money has an additional value for Turkey. Data on drug usage verifies the fact that Turkey is not a crucial drug consumption market; it is mostly a transit country. Due to drug smuggling, billions of dollars have entered the country. However, this is not the entire picture. To categorize Turkey solely as a “transit country” is not sufficient. It must be noted that in the mean time, Turkey has emerged to become one of the crucial narcotic centers of the world. As each drug bag passes through Istanbul or other Turkish cities to reach Western Europe it turns back as terror, organized crime, street violence and loss of government authority in Turkey.

Besides, this process has been continuing on for decades; the drug-violence-degeneration triangle has insidiously raised the prejudice against Turkey internally. It is important that drug trucks that pass from Turkey should be stopped so as to re-construct order in Turkey and more importantly to re-gain government authority. In this study we will focus on the connection between PKK terrorism and drug smuggling. Although certain renowned sources of Turkish, European and American descent and other media reports reveal that PKK members control the European drug cartel and that they even used children to sell drugs, the connection is not a well-studied one. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

Turkish security forces discovered on Tuesday a car loaded with bombs, weapons and a rocket launcher in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Dogan News Agency (DHA) reported. The weapons are considered to belong to the terror organization, PKK.  

The governorship of Diyarbakir issued the details of the discovery in a written statement.

“It is considered that the equipment was planned to be sent to PKK members on the mountain, while our investigation regarding the driver of the car and other people involved in the incident continues,” the statement said.

According to the statement 57 kilograms of explosives, one RPG7 rocket launcher, 50 rocket grenades, 70 hand grenades and around 8,000 bullets for Kalashnikov, as well as a cache of miscellaneous ammunition, and food supplies were found in the car. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

Several PKK members were detained in London during raids carried out by British security forces on the terror organization’s offices, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported on Tuesday.

Britain, which implements a ban on the PKK terror organization and its members, launched an operation Monday night into clubs providing financial support and man power to the PKK, Anatolian Agency reported.  

British police detained several club members, including the head of the club, and seized many documents regarding the terror organization, the agency said.

Police also searched cars and homes of club members, it added. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

President Abdullah Gül told Iraq’s visiting Vice President Tariq al Hashimi that Turkey was determined to use its rights under international law to eradicate the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq.

His remarks were interpreted to mean that when necessary Turkey would carry out air strikes on PKK bases in the north, although the Iraqi air space will be controlled by the central government as of Jan. 1 under the status of forces agreement. Turkey has been seeking permission from the United States for the air strikes. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

All Iraqis want terrorist attacks against Turkey to end, Iraq’s Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said Saturday after meeting Turkish president in Ankara.

Hashimi, who visited Turkey to discuss the fight against the terror organization PKK, met the President Abdullah Gul and officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara.

Hashimi will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Sunday.   Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

Iraq’s vice president arrived Turkey on Saturday to discuss the fight against the terror organization, PKK, with high-level Turkish officials.

Tariq al-Hashimi’s visit comes ahead of Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit scheduled next week. 

Hashimi and his delegation met with President Abdullah Gul and officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara. Hashimi would hold talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.

Turkey has started to hold direct contacts with the regional administration, withdrawing its position to reject dialogue with Irbil who was accused by Ankara of supporting PKK. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurriyet

Kurds from Turkey and Iraq will hold a peace conference inEurope and discuss the conditions of a peace process, the leader of the pro-Kurdish DTP, Ahmet Türk says. He says the outlawed PKK was invited but declined to attend.

Kurdish leaders from Turkey and Iraq will hold a peace conference aimed at ending decades of violence by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the head of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party said Thursday.

Ahmet Türk said the conference, which would take part in Europe or in Iraq, was agreed during a recent trip to northern Iraq, where he met Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani and other Iraqi Kurdish leaders. Read the rest of this entry »