Kurdish fighters killed 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush on Thursday and seven militants died in the firefight that marked the worst clash since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended a cease-fire in February. Grenades thrown by the militants ignited a fire in the heavily forested area where the clash occurred and the troops perished in the blaze, according to a statement released by the chief of staff.
At least seven soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. "Turkey will succeed in overcoming the terror and the powers behind it without compromising democracy, justice and brotherhood," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement. Immediately after the attack, Erdogan met the army and intelligence chiefs as well as the interior minister and head of the paramilitary gendarmerie in Ankara.
Security forces, backed by warplanes, launched a hunt for the rebel fighters in the mountains of Diyarbakir province, and the military chief of land forces had gone to the area. The PKK moved to what it calls an "active defence" stance, whereby its fighters defend themselves if threatened, after ending its 6-month-old cease-fire.
Last week the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan sent word through his lawyers that he had agreed with Turkish officials to set up a "peace council" aimed at ending the 27-year separatist conflict. Ocalan said the council should be formed within one month, though it was unclear what form it would take.
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