VZCZCXRO6033
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHAK #1897/01 0971316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071316Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4655
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA/DSCA// PRIORITY
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5// PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/425ABS IZMIR TU//CC// PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MASS TU IZ
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PKK VIOLENCE CONTINUES, CASUALTIES RISE, 
BUT GOVERNMENT REMAINS RESOLVED 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1821 
 
     ¶B. ANKARA 1723 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: PKK-related attacks continue both inside and 
outside of Turkey.  The Turkish Freedom Falcons (TAK) have 
taken credit for several Istanbul attacks and warned of 
further violence against the government.  In the face of 
escalating casualites, the government has publicly stated its 
resolve to fight the latest wave of terrorism with further 
democratic and security measure.  END SUMMARY. 
 
NO END TO THE VIOLENCE 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Sixteen civilians and 6 security officials died and 
over 300 civilians and 11 soldiers were wounded in bomb 
attacks, civil unrest and military operations in Turkey 
during the past 1.5 weeks.  The TAK claimed responsibility 
for a March 31 bomb blast in an Istanbul garbage can and an 
April 5 attack against an AKP office in the Esenyurt district 
of Istanbul which shattered windows and injured at least two 
people.  In its statement, TAK blamed the attacks on AKP 
government policies; singled out the Prime Minister and his 
party as targets; and warned of further attacks against 
government workers and facilities.  Police in the Buyuk 
Cekmece district of Istanbul found 10 kilograms of the A-4 
plastic explosives typically used by the PKK. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In the southeast, the cities are tense but calm as 
fighting continues in the countryside.  Clashes between 
security officials and the PKK in the Bingol and Sirnak 
provinces on April 5 resulted in the death of six police and 
Jandarma.  Meanwhile, bomb attacks that same day against 
Turkish banks in France and England, as well as recent 
attacks in Germany, have been attributed to PKK-related 
groups.  Comments by Kurdish residents in the southeast 
reveal mixed feelings on the latest civil unrest.  Some state 
that violence is the only way to get the government's 
attention while others lament the likely economic loss as 
tourists and potential investors are scared away. 
 
GOVERNMENT STANDS FIRM 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Maintaining its resolve to combat the current 
Kurdish unrest and PKK violence by democratic means, Prime 
Minister Erdogan and FM Gul separately stated on April 5 
that: the government would not relax its resolve to combat 
terrorism; security forces will undertake every possible 
measure in the fight against terrorism; and the government is 
determined to foil the plot of the "terrorist gang" and to 
remain anchored to further reforms and wider democracy.  Even 
nationalistic Justice Minister Cemil Cicek vowed that the GOT 
would not roll back democratic reforms. 
 
¶5. (SBU) However, the government has not provided any details 
of its plan.  FM Gul's statements have highlighted the 
strengthened anti-terrorism measures the government will 
take, but provided no specifics on democratization measures. 
While saying the GOT will not declare a State of Emergency at 
this time, Gul allowed that military forces could be 
deployed, and dismissed the idea of an amnesty for PKK 
militants.  He announced the establishment of a Security 
Affairs Directorate within the Prime Ministry which would 
function as the Secretariat of an Anti-Terrorism High 
Council, presumably in accordance with the government's 
proposed bill to strengthen anti-terrorism legislation. 
According to press reports, Istanbul police have arrested 13 
people in connection with the April 2 attack in which a group 
of PKK supporters attacked a bus with molotov cocktails and 
three people died (ref a). 
 
¶6. (SBU) In a sharp rebuke to a chairman of the Kurdish DTP 
(Democratic Society Party) who questioned the government's 
definition of terrorism, PM Erdogan told journalists there is 
no ambiguity about the definition of terrorism and noted that 
 
ANKARA 00001897  002 OF 002 
 
 
the EU and the US both consider the PKK a terrorist 
organization.  He added that those who want to participate in 
the democratic process should "come to the table for 
discussions unarmed."  A prominent Diyarbakir businessman 
told us on April 7 that in the wake of the riots, police were 
conducting raids to arrest people in Diyarbakir,s slums. 
According to newspaper reports, 27 suspects, most of them DTP 
activists, have been arrested in connection with the civil 
unrest in the southeast.  The Turkish media, as expected, is 
ramping up the rhetoric about US inaction against -- or 
complicity with -- the PKK, in punishment for the Turkish 
Parliament's March 1, 2003 decision not to allow the US 4th 
ID to enter Iraq from Turkey, but government statements 
remain positive. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON