PKK says it killed 15 Turkish soldiers in ambush

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Kurdish fighters said Sunday they had killed 15 Turkish soldiers in an attack on a convoy of armored vehicles in southeast Turkey, in what could be the bloodiest assault since the collapse of a cease-fire in July.

The number of casualties could not be independently verified but in a televised statement President Tayyip Erdogan confirmed an attack had taken place in Hakkari province, close to Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq.

In a statement posted online, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said its guerrillas had ambushed the convoy in Yuksekova district. "An attack from several sides left 15 soldiers dead, and a large number of weapons were seized in the action," the statement read.

The clash marks a crescendo in a deadly stream of attacks since July, which officials said had already claimed the lives of at least 70 members of the security services and hundreds of PKK fighters.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/6/turkish-soldiers-killed-in-pkk-attack.html

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1. Turkey’s Erdoğan reveals why he started war against Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a scandalous statement following Sunday evening’s bloody fighting.

Sözcü daily of Turkey reported that Erdoğan spoke on live TV about the bloody clash, in the Dağlıca mountainous terrain in Hakkari Province, between the Turkish military and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, and stated: “If you [i.e. the voters of Turkey] had given 400 deputy votes to my party [i.e. the majority Justice and Development Party (AKP)], all this would not have happened.”

Social networking websites have considered this statement by the Turkish president as a confession of causing bloodshed in the country.

According to unconfirmed reports, the PKK militants killed 37 Turkish soldiers in Daglıca.

http://news.am/eng/news/284950.html

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2. UPDATE 3-Turkish military jets strike PKK targets after deadly militant attack

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish insurgent targets overnight after the militants staged what appeared to be their deadliest attack since the collapse of a two-year-old ceasefire in July, killing as many as 16 soldiers.

Military operations continued on Monday, with helicopters dropping special forces in a mountainous area near the Iraqi frontier, while drones sought out targets to be hit by warplanes.

The clashes, weeks before polls the ruling AK Party hopes will restore its majority, threaten to sink a peace process President Tayyip Erdogan launched in 2012 in an attempt to end an insurgency that has killed killed more than 40,000 people.

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels said they had killed 15 members of the armed forces in Sunday's attack on a convoy in the mountainous Daglica area of Hakkari province, near the Iraqi border. A security source told Reuters 16 soldiers had been killed, which would be the highest military death toll in a single attack for years.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/07/mideast-crisis-turkey-kurds-idUSL5N11D0JQ20150907

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3. Investors can’t quit Turkey fast enough, pushing the lira to record lows

The steady selling of Turkish assets is fast becoming a stampede. Fearing for the country’s economic, political, and security stability, investors are quitting the country in droves.

As a result, the Turkish lira has been touching new all-time lows against the dollar in trading today (Sept. 7)—with no respite in sight:

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Amid the general decline in emerging-market assets, Turkey stands out for the severity of its rout. Analysts have long considered Turkey the most vulnerable of the largest developing economies to capital outflows as investors rethink their appetite towards risk given the economic slowdown in China and prospect of interest-rate hikes in the US.

http://qz.com/496494/investors-cant-quit-turkey-fast-enough-pushing-the-lira-to-record-lows/

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4. Turkish Army Reacts To Multiple Deadly Clashes With Kurdistan Workers’ Party:

Prime Minister Calls Emergency Meeting

Several members of the Turkish army were killed in the town of Daglica in southeast Turkey Sunday when two armored vehicles passed over bombs planted by a militant group, whose members then opened fire on the convoy. Though an official death count of the exchange is not yet available, its victims were the latest in a series of deadly encounters between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, that took place throughout the day.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu hurried back to the capital, interupting a visit to watch a national football game in Konya Sunday, to address the conflict and plan a military response, Agence France-Presse reported.

#BREAKING Clashes reported between PKK and Turkish army in southeastern Turkey, #Daglica. PM cuts visit short to return to Ankara

— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) September 6, 2015

http://www.ibtimes.com/turkish-army-reacts-multiple-deadly-clashes-kurdistan-workers-party-prime-minister-2084914