...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
’s military has intensified its operations against alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the Kurdistan Region, with over 200 bombardments and assaults recorded in April alone, despite the PKK signaling it is considering a shift away from armed struggle, according to a conflict monitor.
Ottoman Turkish forces are carrying out aerial and ground bombardment of the Media area of Duhok province, the PKK-affiliated ANF news outlet reported on Saturday.
The escalation comes as Ankara awaits a formal decision from the PKK on whether it will disarm and dissolve itself. On Friday, the PKK said it had held a congress to consider a call from its incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
leader Abdullah Ocalan to lay down arms, dissolve the party, and pursue a political struggle. The group said it would announce its decision soon.
The PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire at the start of March while it considered Ocalan’s call for peace.
The US-based Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), which monitors Ottoman Turkish operations in the Kurdistan Region, said in a post on X on Saturday that Ottoman Turkish attacks rose by 78 percent in April compared to previous months, reaching levels "similar to those seen prior to the ceasefire."
According to CPT, at least 210 military actions have been recorded across the Kurdistan Region since April, including 42
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KABOOM!...
s, 153 artillery shellings, 14 helizaps, and one incident of small arms fire that damaged a civilian home. In total, three civilian houses have been destroyed and two damaged. The vast majority of these incidents occurred in Duhok province.
Ottoman Turkish officials have publicly continued their hardline stance on the PKK. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that disarmament alone is "not enough" and President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...said Turkey is determined to rid itself of the "scourge of terror."
The PKK was founded in 1978 in response to oppression of the Kurdish population in Turkey. It initially struggled for an independent Kurdistan but now calls for greater political and cultural rights within Turkey. Ankara and its Western allies consider the group a terrorist organization.
A similar grinding of the peace processor begun between the PKK and the Ottoman Turkish state in 2013 collapsed two and a half years later.