A Turkish military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in the southeastern province of Hakkari, killing one soldier, security sources said on Monday.
According to a Reuters report, the device was detonated by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as the vehicle was passing the road near Turkey's border with Iraq, the sources said.
Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast has been rocked by violence following the collapse of a 2-1/2-year ceasefire between the state and the PKK in 2015. The autonomy-seeking PKK took up arms in 1984, and more than 40,000 people have died in the conflict. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
On that note, the US embassy issued statement reiterating its stance on the PKK and its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
“The US government works together with Turkey in the fight against terrorism and maintenance of stability in the region,” it said on Twitter.
“The PKK is listed among foreign terror organizations. Ocalan has been jailed in Turkey for his actions related to the PKK. He is not a person to be respected.”
Ocalan has been in jail in Turkey since 1999 on a treason conviction. More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in the fighting since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by each of the United States, Turkey and the European Union.
