New Attack On South Kurdistan

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.etext.org>

New Attack On South Kurdistan

     For the second time this year, the Turkish army has invaded
South Kurdistan. On the night of September 25, 1997, around
30,000 Turkish soldiers and 1,500 village guards crossed the
Iraq border. More than 150 tanks, armored vehicles, and Cobra
helicopters from Hakkari and Sirnak, as well as F-16 bombers from
Malatya and Diyarbakir, supported the invasion.
     For days, Turkey bombarded the border region as Turkish
troops were transported across the border. In areas controlled by
the KDP, the Turkish army moved from Cizre-Hubur on the road from
Dohuk towards Zaho just 50km from the border with Syria. The
Turkish army tried along to way to build bridges over difficult
ravines, but they were unsuccessful. They faced heavy resistance
along the way, prompting the Turkish army to send in special
units from Elazig, Urfa, and Bolu, as many as 20,000 men more.
     As with the previous invasion of South Kurdistan, Turkey's
military commanders stated that they had been called in to help
by Massoud Barzani, feudal chief of the KDP-Iraq. Over the past
three months there had been heavy fighting between the KDP and
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The day before the invasion,
the Reuters news agency had reported heavy KDP losses.
Immediately following Turkey's invasion, Barzani declared that he
would give the PKK one month to leave the area. Turkey also
advanced into areas controlled by Talabani's PUK near the border
with Iran, the area where a future oil pipeline is to be built
from Iraq passing through major gas and oils fields. The Turkish
General Staff also declared that it wanted to wipe out the PKK's
bases in the area before winter. The goal was the headquarters in
the Zap region. This task is now to be handed over to the KDP and
the village guards. The last time Turkey tried this, 4 of its
helicopters were shot down, resulting in the deaths of some
officers.
     The PKK's guerrillas have retreated from their camps into
the mountains. Despite Turkey's claims of heavy guerrilla losses,
a radio station of the KDP reported only 13 PKK losses after four
days of the invasion. In Turkey itself, PKK units attacked the
home bases of the invading troops and the lines of supply. In
downtown Hakkari, one army base was surrounded and fired upon for
four straight hours. In the region between Diyarbakir and Bingol,
several military bases were attacked, as was a special unit base
in Elazig. Turkey is suffering problems in its rear during the
invasion, since they only left behind 60 tanks in the Diyarbakir
region.
     More news coming soon...

(Translated by Arm The Spirit from 'Kurdistan-Rundbrief' Nr.20,
Vol.10 - October 7, 1997)

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