Turkish warplanes bombed several border areas near the towns of Neroye and Rekan in Dahuk province of northern Iraq May 11, the website of the website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reported. Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for Iraq’s Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, also confirmed the air strikes to Reuters, as did a PKK spokesman to AP. The PKK spokesman, Ahmed Danas, said the warplanes struck former bases “of our forces where none of our fighters were present.”
There was no immediate confirmation from the Turkish military. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s fight against the PKK has reached a significant stage with recent successful operations. Erdogan told reporters in Turkey’s Antalya province, in comments addressed to the PKK: “You have come to the end of the road. Give up this wrong track before you cause more sorrows for your families.”
On May 9, the PKK raided a military position in Turkey’s Hakkari province, just across the border from northern Iraq. The military retaliated with air-strikes on PKK positions inside Turkey. (Hurriyet, AP, May 12)
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