13 May 2016•Update: 14 May 2016
ANKARA
In the wake of fresh terrorist PKK attacks leaving behind martyred soldiers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed Friday that such hostilities will not deter Turkey from defending itself.
"No clash or ambush will keep us from defending Turkey's unity, solidarity, and territorial integrity. Turkey will get rid of all bloody organizations and dirty alliances one by one as long as the people of Turkey support our brave and self-sacrificing security forces," Erdogan said in a written statement on Friday.
Additionally, the president offered his condolences to the families of soldiers martyred in Friday's clash with the PKK in the Cukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari.
The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that six soldiers were martyred and eight others were injured at 4.50 a.m. (0150GMT) in clashes with PKK terrorists at the Cigli military zone in the southeastern Hakkari province’s Cukurca district.
About an hour later, a gunship helicopter was sent to the region in response to the clash, but it crashed, killing two pilots, the statement added.
According to the statement, the crash is being blamed on technical error.
The Turkish army deployed F-16 jets, attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and additional troops to the region to “neutralize the terrorists.”
“Up to now six separatist terrorist organization [PKK] members were neutralized,” the statement said, adding that the operation continues.
The Hakkari province is in Turkey’s southeast corner, with its Cukurca district on the Iraqi border serving as a route for terrorists entering Turkey.
The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S., and the EU -- resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.
Since then, more than 440 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,500 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.
