Turkish troops burn houses > Re

[root at newsdesk.aps.nl]

From: newsdesk at newsdesk.aps.nl (Newsdesk Amsterdam)
Subject: Re: Turkish troops burn houses > Reuters
Reply-To: root at newsdesk.aps.nl

---------------- Forwarded from : igi at igrey.demon.co.uk (igi) ------------------

Reuters> Turkish troops burn houses in east 

    By Ferit Demir
    TUNCELI, Turkey, March 21 (Reuter) - Turkish troops have 
burned two settlements in eastern Turkey to deny shelter  to 
rebel  Kurds  in  anticipation of a big upsurge in guerrilla 
violence, residents said on Tuesday. 
    They said the army had evacuated and burned at least two 
hamlets with a total of about 20 houses in Tunceli's western 
Cemisgezek district at the weekend in a  return  to  tactics 
that made hundreds homeless late last year. 
    The Turkish military declined to comment on the accounts 
but  an army official,  who declined to be identified,  said 
"large numbers" of  soldiers  had  been  moved  to  most  of 
Tunceli's  remote districts to counter an expected offensive 
by rebel Kurds. 
    "The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) has poured  men  into 
Tunceli and Bingol from other areas," he said. 
    Sources  close to the PKK said many rebels had been sent 
across the border from northern Iraq where  Turkey  launched 
an  attack  with some 35,000 troops backed by tanks and jets 
on Monday. Air strikes continued inside Iraq on Tuesday. 
    The sources said the PKK  got  wind  of  the  incursion, 
which  was  preceded by a major military build-up,  and that 
most of those who crossed into Turkey had made their way  to 
Tunceli. 
    Prime  Minister  Tansu  Ciller  said it was time to turn 
abroad now that the More? rebels had been virtually silenced 
at home. 
    "Now the  terrorist  group  (PKK)  can  no  longer  seek 
shelter  at  home,  the  time  has  come  to finish them off 
abroad," she told reporters. 
    But in Tunceli signs were that  the  PKK  was  far  from 
silenced.  "We  expect  an  attack any minute,  in line with 
reports the PKK will  launch  a  massive  offensive  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  and have increased security all over," 
said an army source. 
    Military officials say the PKK wants to keep control  of 
the  eastern  Tunceli  and  Bingol  provinces,  where almost 
impenetrable terrain made it easier to operate. 
    They said fighting continued in the region, particularly 
around the towering Munzur mountains in northern Tunceli and 
near Tunceli town,  close to where rebels killed 18 soldiers 
in  an  ambush  of  a  40-vehicle  convoy  of  800 troops on 
Saturday. 
    Military sources in Tunceli,  citing  intercepted  radio 
conversations,  said  the PKK aimed to step up their attacks 
to an all-time peak in the spring and summer,  to damage the 
government or force it to the negotiating table. 
    Soldiers  in Tunceli said elusive PKK regional commander 
Semdin Sakik -- alias "fingerless Zeki" after losing a thumb 
while firing a rocket in northern Iraq -- remained at  large 
in the region to coordinate the attacks. 
    "The  presence  of  a  commander  experienced  in  major 
assaults points to the continued importance the PKK gives to 
the region,  and indicates attacks to come" More?  one  army 
official told Reuters. 
    Sakik led  a  group  of  200  guerrillas  in  Saturday's 
ambush.  The  capture  of  Sakik  has been the main aim of a 
concerted army offensive  that  began  in  the  region  last 
September  and  continued into winter.  Soldiers said it was 
fruitless. 
 REUTER

> Is it just fate that the Regional Commander's name is Hasan Kundakci
or Hasan "Arsonist?" Wow, what a coincidence!! 1,500 villages and 
hamlets torched and depopulated until now under Arsonist's command... 


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