TURKEY: Preparations underway for funerals of air strike victims in south-eastern village of Sirnak as families lament the loss of their loved ones

Record ID: 340604

  • Title: TURKEY: Preparations underway for funerals of air strike victims in south-eastern village of Sirnak as families lament the loss of their loved ones
  • Date: 31st December 2011
  • Summary: SIRNAK, TURKEY (DECEMBER 30, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) GV'S OF ORTASU VILLAGE MEN GATHERED ON ROAD CHILDREN AND WOMEN SITTING ON ROOFTOP VARIOUS OF WOMEN CLIMBING A HILL (SOUNDBITE) (Kurdish) UNIDENTIFIED VILLAGER SAYING: "One of them was a relative of mine. He was my uncle's son and they went to the border to buy diesel and they met a military commander in the
  • Embargoed: 15th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,Accidents,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1SVK79QRFSBFSYA6FKYPVZZ7A
  • Story Text: Residents of a Turkish south-eastern village on Friday (December 30) mourned dozens of people killed in a cross-border attack and began preparations for mass burials expected later in the day.
    On Thursday (December 29) Turkish warplanes killed 35 civilian smugglers in northern Iraq after mistaking them for Kurdish militants, Ankara's ruling party said. It vowed not to allow a cover-up of an incident that threatens to wreck relations with minority Kurds.
    The Turkish military had said its warplanes launched air strikes overnight after drones spotted suspected rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The military had denied there were civilians in the area.
    But ruling AK Party spokesman Huseyin Celik said initial reports based on local government officials had found the victims were not militants and that most of the dead were cigarette smugglers under the age of 30.
    In the impoverished border village of Ortasu mourners condemned the attack.
    "One of them was a relative of mine. He was my uncle's son and they went to the border to buy diesel and they met a military commander in the morning and they followed the route he advised, and they phoned us from northern Iraq and told us not to go there until the soldiers arrive and later three F-16 warplanes pounded the area on the border," said one of the residents.
    Another woman, who said she had lost three of her nephews, called the attack "a massacre".
    "I lost my nephews. Three of them. They were students. They were travelling to Iraq to buy food supplies like sugar and planned to sell it here to cover their school expenses. But this is what happened when they returned. This is a massacre. It is a shame how cheap human life can be," she said.
    Smuggling is an important source of income for locals in provinces along the Iraqi frontier, with many villagers involved in bringing fuel, cigarettes and other goods from Iraqi villages on the other side of the border.
    Turkish warplanes strike militant targets regularly in the region in their battle against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas, and have stepped up raids after a PKK attack in August.
    PKK militants also cross the border in these areas.
    The PKK, regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, have been known to launch attacks on Turkish forces in south-eastern Turkey from hideouts inside the remote Iraqi mountains.
    Turkish leaders vowed revenge in October with air and ground strikes after the PKK killed 24 Turkish soldiers in one of the deadliest attacks since the PKK took up arms in 1984 in a conflict in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
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