The deaths of 13 Turkish police, soldiers and – potentially – intelligence officers in northern Iraq have led Ankara to increase its efforts to link Kurdish militants to the domestic opposition.
But the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under fire for an operation against Kurdish militants, during which the bodies were found.
Fifty-one militants died in the operation, Turkish officials said.
The Turkish military announced on Sunday that it had found the bodies, which all had bullet wounds, in a cave complex during the battle against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous Gara region, near the Turkey-Iraq border.
The PKK said three days of air strikes and battles “resulted in the death of some of the [Turkish intelligence] members, soldiers and policemen we had captured".
Turkish officials initially tried to give gave the impression that the hostages were civilians, but 11 were later identified as police officers or soldiers captured by the PKK in Turkey between 2015 and 2016.
After the discovery of the bodies, Turkish officials took to social media to link the PKK to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a left-wing party with roots in the Kurdish movement and third largest party in the Turkish Parliament.
The HDP has denied direct links to the PKK. It acted as an intermediary in peace talks between the government and the PKK from 2013 to 2015.
Dozens of its elected officials, including former MPs and mayors, are in prison on charges of supporting the PKK in what many consider to be politically motivated cases.
Meanwhile, two HDP MPs were put under investigation for “provocative” tweets about the operation.
The MPs had tweeted about their earlier contacts with the victims’ families to secure the hostages' release and accused the government of turning its back on efforts to free them.
The party said the release of captured police and soldiers had previously been achieved through “diplomatic efforts".
The Gara victims’ families had visited HDP politicians on at least four occasions.
“Unfortunately, the government avoided taking on its diplomatic and humanitarian responsibilities to save the lives and ensure the freedom of its own officials who [have been] lost in a military operation without any clear purpose or target,” the two said.
An MP from another opposition party said he had submitted six parliamentary questions on the fate of the hostages since 2016.
“Put aside the empty cries, give an account of why you haven’t done anything for years,” Murat Bakan said as he addressed the government in Parliament last week.
“We’ve been shouting with the families for years. Where were you?”
Ankara has long protested against US support for PKK-linked fighters in Syria who led the campaign against ISIS, and against what it sees as European and American tolerance of protests, fund-raising and media activities on behalf of the PKK.
A message of condolence from the US, in which it condemned the killings “if reports … are confirmed", was seized on as illustrating a lack of support for Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Human Rights Association said military authorities should be “held accountable for the possible consequences of carrying out a highly risky military operation”.
“All information and documents relating to the military operations must be shared with the authorised chief prosecutor’s office," association co-chair Ozturk Turkdogan said.
"The Grand National Assembly of Turkey must investigate this issue and bring it to light by setting up an investigation commission.”
The day before the deaths were announced, the father of one hostage, police Sgt Semih Ozbey, called for an end to the Gara operation.
“Of course, I'm against these operations,” Gursel Ozbey told the Mesopotamia news agency.
“If the state is operating where we have children. I want it stopped as soon as possible. I'll get hold of whoever hurts my child.”
Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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Norway
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Canada
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The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Price: From Dh590,000
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
