In the absence of any immediate claims of responsibility for Wednesday evening’s rush-hour car bomb attack on a military convoy in Ankara, suspicion is likely to fall, first and foremost, on Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) militants who have been engaged in a renewed, low-intensity conflict with Turkey’s army and security forces since last summer. That said, such suspicion may not be right. It would be unusual for the PKK, which is seeking greater autonomy for predominantly ethnic Kurdish areas of south-east Turkey, to mount an “out-of-territory” operation, in this case attacking the heart of the Turkish state. The prime minister’s office and parliament, as well as military headquarters, are close by the scene of the blast.
On the other hand, the PKK routinely confines itself to military or security forces targets, and not civilian targets. It would regard a military convoy of buses carrying army personnel as a legitimate target.
If the PKK does prove responsible for the attack, it will be interpreted as a direct response to a campaign of military crackdowns, arrests and curfews in Kurdish areas that have followed the sudden collapse of a ceasefire in July last year.
Fighting intensified in December and led to escalating clashes, including one around Diyarbakır last month in which 20 Kurdish militants and three Turkish soldiers died.
No comments:
Post a Comment