EU and US urge Turkey to show restraint amid PKK onslaught

Europe and the United States on Tuesday urged Turkey to show a "proportionate response" in the face of daily attacks by Kurdish militants amid growing concern over the scale of Ankara's air campaign against the rebels.

Three more Turkish soldiers were killed in the latest assault blamed on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, as Ankara pressed on with a relentless air campaign against hideouts in northern Iraq.

Ankara is waging a two-pronged cross-border "anti-terror" bombing campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and PKK rebels in northern Iraq. But so far the raids have overwhelmingly targeted the Kurdish rebels.

Official media in Turkey have said at least 260 PKK members have been killed so far, in hundreds of sorties targeted against the group's shelters, weapons stores and caves.

Concern over possible civilian casualties grew when pro-Kurdish media at the weekend said Turkey killed eight civilians by bombing a village. The army denied the claims.

Both the US and the EU list the PKK as a terror group. The European Union's enlargement commissioner, Johannes Hahn, expressed "deep concern" at the impact on efforts to resolve the decades-long conflict with Turkey's Kurdish minority. Turkey has a right "to react to any form of terrorism," Hahn said in a statement, adding "The response, however, must be proportionate, targeted and by no means endanger the democratic political dialogue." He called on Turkey to refrain from any action "that could further destabilise the region".

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Ankara had a right to defend itself against PKK attacks. "We want to see the PKK renounce violence and re-engage in talks with the government of Turkey. And... we want to see the Turkish government respond proportionately," he said.

The current crisis began two weeks ago on 20 July, when 32 young pro-Kurdish activists were killed in a Turkish town on the Syrian border in a suicide bombing blamed on IS. The PKK, which accuses the government of collaborating with IS, shot dead two Turkish police in reprisal, starting a wave of violence that has shattered a 2013 ceasefire.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who opponents accuse of orchestrating the crisis to boost his popularity, has said Turkey will do "whatever necessary" to defeat the militants.    (AFP)

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