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By The Associated Press Fri., Nov. 9, 2018 ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s defence ministry says 25 soldiers were injured while seven others are unaccounted for in an accident during the firing of heavy weapon ordnance. In a statement, the ministry said the unexplained accident occurred Friday at a base in Hakkari province, which borders both Iraq and Iran and where clashes between Kurdish rebels and Turkish troops are frequent. The soldiers were said to have been immediately evacuated and hospitalized. No details on their condition were provided. The incident is under investigation. Article Continued Below Report an error Journalistic Standards About Us TOP STORIES, DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. NEW NEWSLETTER HEADLINES SIGN UP … [Read more...] about Exploding ordnance injures 25 soldiers in Turkey
Hakkari
Twenty-five Turkish soldiers wounded in live fire accident
ISTANBUL: Twenty-five Turkish soldiers have been wounded in the southeastern province of Hakkari due to an accident that occurred while firing heavy ammunition, the Defence Ministry said on Friday, adding seven soldiers were still to be reached.The 25 wounded were transferred to hospital and are being treated, the ministry said, adding that an investigation had been launched into the accident.The accident occurred at a base in Hakkari's Semdinli region, which is located near the borders with Iran and Iraq, the Hakkari governor's office said in a statement.Turkey has in recent months carried out air strikes on bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, especially its stronghold in the Qandil mountains, where Ankara has also threatened to carry out a ground offensive.More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK launched its insurgency in Turkey in 1984. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European … [Read more...] about Twenty-five Turkish soldiers wounded in live fire accident
Kurdish militant attack kills two Turkish soldiers in southeast
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants launched a rocket attack on military vehicles on Wednesday, killing two soldiers and wounding another, the local governor's office said, the latest in a series of attacks in southeast Turkey this week.The attacks come ahead of nationwide elections on Sunday and coincide with an upswing in Turkish air strikes targeting PKK bases in northern Iraq, notably its stronghold in the Qandil mountain region.Ankara has recently stepped up warnings of a potential ground offensive into the Qandil region, where high-ranking PKK members are believed to be located. President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to "drain the terror swamp" there."Members of the separatist terror group carried out a rocket attack in which two military personnel were martyred and one wounded," the Hakkari provincial governor's office said, using Ankara's term for the PKK.The attack on Wednesday morning targeted military vehicles leaving a hillside base in Hakkari's Cukurca … [Read more...] about Kurdish militant attack kills two Turkish soldiers in southeast
Leftist firebrand seeks to end Turkey opposition’s losing streak
CORUM: Turkey's opposition is fielding a leftist candidate known for impassioned speeches and even anti-American rhetoric in a bid to pose a serious challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in June's elections. With the election just over a month away, the Republican People's Party (CHP) – a bastion of secular Turkey founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – is hoping to reverse its electoral fortunes which have seen it struggling to win more than a quarter of the vote. This time, party chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu decided not to run for the presidency on June 24, instead of tapping Muharrem Ince, a senior MP and former physics teacher who has twice tried to oust him as a leader. A gifted speaker who is unafraid of mimicking Erdogan's tactics, Ince is a total contrast to mild-mannered Kilicdaroglu who, since taking over in 2010, has failed to dent the president's armour. Since his nomination earlier this month, Ince has crisscrossed the country giving impassioned speeches, … [Read more...] about Leftist firebrand seeks to end Turkey opposition’s losing streak
Lax US arms controls drive Turkish ‘fake news’ over Afrin
Lax US arms controls and back doors to arms regulations are inadvertently fuelling a campaign of misinformation in Turkey that could drive further incursions in northern Syria as the campaign in Afrin draws to a close. Since January, when Turkish forces invaded the Kurdish-ruled enclave around Afrin, Syria, Turkish newspapers and television shows have used the proliferation of US-made AT-4 anti-tank missiles to the Kurdish militants behind the long-running insurgency in Turkey’s south-east as a justification for the Afrin incursion. The dailyReport Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox An Asia Times investigation shows that in shipping these US-made weapons to the Middle East that ended up in the hands of insurgents from the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, American officials evaded globally standard arms controls designed to stop such arms proliferation. The Turkish Prime Minister’s office used such claims to justify the Afrin incursion on … [Read more...] about Lax US arms controls drive Turkish ‘fake news’ over Afrin