Militants kidnap gendarmerie officer in Diyarbakır's Lice district

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

Clashes in Diyarbakır's Lice reportedly broke out over the construction of a gendarmerie station. AKP's Spokesman Hüseyin Çelik said that those were renewal works and there were no new gendarmerie stations planned to be built. AA photo

A gendarmerie sergeant was kidnapped by militants late June 28 in Diyarbakır's Lice district, hours after clashes between villagers and soldiers left one dead and 10 wounded.

The officer, identified as Yetkin Beğen, was driving his private car on the main road linking Diyarbakır to Bingöl, when he was stopped in a checkpoint installed by militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) near Lice's Kayacık village.

An argument broke out between the militants and the sergeant, according to Doğan News Agency. The militants threatened the sergeant and then kidnapped him, the report said.

Authorities immediately launched an operation to find the officer's whereabouts. The sergeant was part of the gendarmerie's special operations unit.

The sergeant’s car was foundburned on June 29  near a forested land. 

Tensions were high after the clashes in Lice over the construction of a gendarmerie facility. Ruling Justice and Development (AKP) Spokesman Hüseyin Çelik denounced a "plot" aiming to "disrupt" the Kurdish peace process, while a PKK executive told Nuce TV that the incident was a provocation, urging the government to speed up reforms.