32 PKK rebels killed in large-scale operation in southeastern

Thirty two rebels of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in a large-scale operation in Cuukurca town of Hakkari province in southeastern Turkey late Friday and early Saturday, private Dogan news agency reported on Saturday. The Turkish army continuously dispatched troops by helicopters to fight with PKK militants in the region of Kazan Valley and Isikli in Cuukurca town of Hakkari province, according to the report. However, no official statement on the armed clashes between the Turkish soldiers and PKK members was available. On Wednesday, a large group of the PKK members attacked several military and police buildings and killed 24 soldiers and police officers in several locations in the predominately Kurdish Hakkari province near the Iraqi border, a day after they killed five police officers and three civilians in Bitlis province in southeastern Turkey. Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during the past over two decades.