A soldier, who was injured in clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in the southeastern province of Şırnak in May 12, died while receiving treatment at the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) in Ankara early on Monday.
Turkish General Staff released a statement about the soldier whose name or rank was not mentioned. The statement wished “God’s mercy upon fallen soldier,” and conveyed condolences to his family and friends, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Turkish nation.
There have been repeated clashes between security forces and PKK members since a cease-fire between the government and the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, collapsed in July of last year.
Since the settlement process launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in 2012 with the PKK to end the country’s long-standing Kurdish problem ended in July, nearly 200,000 locals in the Southeast have been forced to leave their homes due to fighting and curfews. The authorities have been imposing curfews in towns and districts to flush PKK militants from urban areas in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish Southeast since the collapse of a peace process with the PKK in July.