In Iraq bastions, PKK braces for new war with Turkey
Pointing to a crater left by one of scores of Turkish air strikes in Iraq's Kurdistan region, a PKK rebel official said that "Turkey has declared war against us". For three decades, Turkey was at war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which was seeking an independent state in southeastern Anatolia. But two years ago, after […]Pointing to a crater left by one of scores of Turkish air strikes in Iraq's Kurdistan region, a PKK rebel official said that "Turkey has declared war against us". For three decades, Turkey was at war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which was seeking an independent state in southeastern Anatolia.
But two years ago, after months of secret talks with Ankara, jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his people to lay down their arms and withdraw to their mountain bases in northern Iraq. An uneasy truce since then came crashing to an end Friday when Turkish fighter jets began bombing PKK positions in the Qandil area as well as some camps north of the city of Dohuk, further west.
