PKK strikes Syrian migrants in Turkey’s southeast, one killed

HAKKARİ – Doğan News Agency

One person was killed while five others were wounded in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Syrian migrants in the Şemdinli district of the southeastern province of Hakkari on Sept. 25.
 
PKK militants fired a mortar shell at around 2 p.m. from the Balkaya Mountains in the Derecik region, hitting a gendarmerie battalion command hosting Syrian migrants, who were apprehended after illegally crossing the border and were waiting for their procedures to be completed. 

One person was killed while five others were wounded, of whom two heavily, in the explosion that took place due to the attack. 

Ambulances were dispatched to the scene and a security operation was launched near the Balkaya Mountains to apprehend the PKK militants involved in the attack. 

Elsewhere, four people, of whom two are suspected PKK sympathizers, were caught while trying to cross into Greece illegally from the western province of Edirne on Sept. 25. 

Security forces noticed a group of people trying to cross the border in the Serem village during their patrols and apprehended the suspects. 

Two of those caught said they were Syrians and two others, identified only as H.Y.Y. and A.B., were determined to be PKK sympathizers. 

According to Doğan News Agency, H.Y.Y. was dismissed from his post as a teacher due to his suspected links to the outlawed group and A.B. was a business owner in Istanbul. 

The two Syrians were delivered to the Edirne Directorate General of Migration Management and the other two were detained over their alleged links to the PKK. 

The investigation into the case has been ongoing.