Erdo?an speaks war and vows revenge for PKK attack

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, ministers, Chief of General Staff ?lker Ba?bu? and Force Commanders  came to Van to attend the funeral of 11 soldiers who died in the attack by Kurdish guerrilla in ?emdinli/Hakkari, yesterday.
Among the ministers were Defence Minister Vecdi Gönül, State Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Ba???, Interior minister Be?ir Atalay. The funeral ceremony was held in in Van Gendarmerie Commandership. The funeral was attended also by 15 ambassadors of European countries who came to Turkey for a festival due to take place in Bahçesaray but was cancelled because of the heavy fighting and losses.
At the funeral, Prime Minister Erdo?an spoke, after the speech by Public Order Army Commander  General Naz?m Alt?nta?. Prime Minister Erdo?an has vowed to keep up the fight against the PKK and said Turkey was willing to “pay the price” to “annihilate” the PKK. The imam also used words of anger against Kurdish people rather than taking side with peace and the people who suffer.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party)  would “drown in their own blood” after attacks blamed on the terrorist group killed 12 soldiers in the past two days. The escalation of violence won’t divert Turkey “a single millimeter from its goal of growth and becoming a strong and respected state,” Erdo?an said in a televised speech given at a military service to honor 11 of the dead in Van in southeast Turkey. “These treacherous attacks will not destroy our brotherhood and unity.”
Erdo?an has widened Kurdish cultural rights, seeking to end nearly three decades of conflict, by allowing television broadcasts in the Kurdish language and increasing investment in the Southeast. The increase in PKK violence reflects the group’s efforts to “sabotage the economic, social and democratic development process,” Erdo?an said in a statement Saturday.
The PKK attacked a military outpost in Elaz?? province with hand grenades and machine-gun fire early Sunday, killing one soldier and injuring another. In Hakkari province, troops searching the Iraqi border region for PKK found the body of a soldier who had lost contact with his unit, it said. On Saturday two other soldiers died from a mine explosion that authorities attributed to the PKK.

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