Kurdistan Presidential Office denounced the killing of three Turkish army officers on Thursday during clashes with Kurdish rebels.

On Thursday the army engaged the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on the outskirts of Mt. Amanos near the Syrian border in the southern province of Hatay. Three high ranking military officers were killed in the firefight.



"We, at the Kurdistan presidency [office], condemn this war and bloodshed strongly and we believe it causes a big damage to the peace efforts," Kurdistan presidential statement said.



The statement underlined that exerting violence "is futile and will serve no party … a peaceful solution should be adopted."



PKK, recognized as a terrorist organization in the US, the UK, Turkey and some European countries, took arms in 1984 for ethnic rights of millions of Kurds in Turkey. This war claimed the lives of more than 45,000 individuals.



Clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK fighters in the first four months of this year claimed the lives of 121 soldiers and 79 rebels, according to PKK's HGP (People's Defense Forces) Central Command. Some 35 soldiers were also wounded in the meantime.




AKnews