PKK militants kidnapped two people, including a soldier: Turkish army

Middle East, News May 20, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkey’s armed forces have proclaimed that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has abducted two people, including a soldier, in the country’s east.

Members of the PKK “have kidnapped two people, including a specialist gendarmerie corporal, in the area between Merkez Mescitli village and Bostankent village in the province of Muş,” the General Staff of Turkey’s armed forces said in a statement released on Wednesday.

An investigation into the incident is being carried out, the statement added.

The Muş governorate reported the soldier missing on Tuesday and blamed the incident on the PKK. The group, however, has not claimed responsibility for the alleged abduction case.

The fresh allegation comes amid rising tensions between Ankara and the Kurdish minority.

Earlier this week, the offices of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party were hit by explosions in Turkey’s southern cities of Adana and Mersin, leaving several people wounded.

People stand near the site of an explosion at the office of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey’s southern city of Mersin, May 18, 2015. (AFP)

Back in April, unknown attackers also opened fire on the HDP headquarters in the capital, Ankara, with no casualties. The government denounced the raid as a blow to Turkey’s democracy and stability.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead.

In March 2013, Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, declared a historic ceasefire following months of negotiations with the Turkish government. In return, the PKK demanded amendments to the penal code and electoral laws as well as the right to education in the Kurdish language and a degree of regional autonomy.