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Viewing cable 07ANKARA2441, PKK ATTACK KILLS 12

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07ANKARA2441 2007-10-01 15:03 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Ankara
VZCZCXRO3411
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #2441 2741503
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011503Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3878
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA// PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5// PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/425ABS IZMIR TU//CC// PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU PRIORITY
RUEPGAB/MNF-I C2X BAGHDAD IZ PRIORITY
UNCLAS ANKARA 002441 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR P, EUR/SE, NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PREL TU
SUBJECT: PKK ATTACK KILLS 12 
 
 
1. (SBU) A September 29 attack on a minibus in southeastern 
Turkey resulted in the deaths of 12 Turkish citizens.  Two 
more were injured.  GOT officials believe the attack was 
carried out by PKK terrorists.  According to press reports, 
the bus was returning from a worksite in the Altinsu District 
of Sirnak Province, near Turkey's border with Iraq, to the 
villagers' home in Besagac in the Beytussebap District of 
Sirnak.  The passengers were reportedly working on a water 
pipeline project and were on their way home in the early 
evening when, according to survivors, the bus in which they 
were riding came under heavy automatic weapons fire from both 
sides of the road.  Among those killed were five temporary 
village guards, two volunteer village guards, and five 
civilians. 
 
GOT OFFICIALS FIERCE IN REACTION 
-------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan both issued 
statements condemning the attack.  Gul said, "No person or 
power can hurt the unity and indivisible integrity of our 
country.  I want to stress that those who resort to terrorism 
and shed blood and tears and slay our citizens without pity 
will be eradicated in the face of the strong will of our 
nation and state."  He added that such attacks would only 
serve to increase the determination of the Turkish state in 
the fight against terrorism.  Erdogan similarly said the 
GOT's fight against terrorism will continue, adding that the 
attack was one of the PKK's "last convulsions."  Sirnak 
Governor Selahattin Apari's remarks to over 2500 at the 
September 30 funeral rang a familiar refrain implicating U.S. 
involvement when he said, "...we know very well whose weapons 
the terrorists are using." 
 
KURDISH POLITICIANS NOT QUITE THERE 
----------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) 
issued a statement deploring the attack.  The DTP release 
included criticism of the government's continued offensive 
operations against the PKK throughout the southeast.  DTP 
co-chairs Nurettin Demirtas and Selma Irmak conveyed their 
condolences to the relatives of those who were killed in 
condemning the attack.  At the same time, they questioned the 
immediate assumption that the PKK was responsible for the 
shootings and urged GOT officials to investigate the incident 
to shed light on the perpetrators.  The DTP statement also 
urged restraint by Turkish security forces and the opening of 
political channels between the GOT and Kurdish 
representatives, including the DTP. 
 
4. (SBU) COMMENT: This attack is the worst in terms of 
casualties since the May bombing in Ankara, and the worst 
single shooting incident this year.  Although the pressure on 
the GOT to green light a cross-border operation has 
diminished somewhat in recent weeks, these attacks underscore 
the continued threat the PKK poses, particularly in Turkey's 
southeast.  The correlation between such attacks and reports 
of PKK use of U.S.-origin weapons also continues to be made 
with regularity by GOT officials, complicating our ongoing 
efforts to reinvigorate the bilateral relationship. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON