Two soldiers were dead in an attack organized by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır early on Sunday.
The two soldiers were initially injured in the attack in Diyarbakır’s district of Lice and lost their lives while receiving treatment at a hospital.
Turkish General Staff released a statement on Sunday, informing the public about the slain soldiers in the province. The statement wished “God’s mercy upon the fallen soldiers,” and conveyed condolences to their families and friends, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Turkish nation.
The PKK is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), as well as Turkey. 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 then.