Subject: TURKEY FIGHTING BY LAURIE KASSMAN/DIYARBAKIR Topic: voa From: yanni@ix.netcom.com (Ioannis Bousnakis) DATE=4/23/95 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-20280 TITLE=TURKEY FIGHTING BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN DATELINE=DIYARBAKIR CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: THE TURKISH MILITARY CONTINUES ITS OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY AGAINST THE SEPARATIST KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY, OR P-K-K, WHILE SOME 20-THOUSAND TROOPS ARE ATTACKING SUSPECTED P-K-K CAMPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ. THE P-K-K GUERRILLAS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR MORE THAN A DECADE NOW FOR A SEPARATE KURDISH STATE. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT LAURIE KASSMAN TRAVELED TO TUNCELI PROVINCE IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY, WHERE MOST OF THE RECENT MILITARY OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATED. SHE REPORTS THAT FIGHTING NOW HAS MOVED FARTHER EAST AND NORTH FROM TUNCELI'S PROVINCIAL CAPITAL, MUCH TO THE RELIEF OF RESIDENTS THERE. TEXT: /// OPENS WITH WILD SOUND, FADING UNDER /// ON A LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON, MANY OF TUNCELI'S 17-THOUSAND RESIDENTS SPEND THEIR TIME STROLLING ALONG QUIET STREETS, LISTENING TO MUSIC WAFTING FROM LOUDSPEAKERS IN NEARBY RECORD SHOPS. /// MORE WILD SOUND, LAUGHTER, FADES UNDER /// MEN SIT CHATTING AND PLAYING DOMINOES WHILE A DOZEN BLUE-BERET ARMY COMMANDOS LINE UP AT PAY PHONES NEXT DOOR TO CALL HOME. THE TOWN IS QUIET, BUT THE BATTLE GOES ON LESS THAN 200 KILOMETERS AWAY. GUARDS AT A CHECKPOINT ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN SAY THEY HAVE SEEN GUERRILLAS IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE THEM. A TWO-WEEK AIR AND LAND ATTACK HAS JUST ENDED AGAINST P-K-K GUERRILLAS TRAPPED IN A STEEP RAVINE IN THE SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS 170 KILOMETERS NORTH OF THE PROVINCIAL CAPITAL. TUNCELI'S GOVERNOR ATIL UZELGUN TOLD V-O-A NEWS THAT 50 P-K-K MEMBERS WERE KILLED IN THAT OPERATION. MANY OTHERS MANAGED TO ESCAPE. FIGHTING IS REPORTED ELSEWHERE IN THE PROVINCE. MILITARY SOURCES TOLD REPORTERS OF CLASHES NEAR PULUMUR, SOME 75 KILOMETERS NORTH OF TUNCELI TOWN, WHERE P-K-K REBELS ARE REPORTED TO HAVE ATTACKED A MILITARY BASE. GOVERNOR UZELGUN SAYS THE ARMY HAS KILLED MORE THAN 300 P-K-K GUERRILLAS IN CLASHES IN TUNCELI PROVINCE SINCE LAST SEPTEMBER. HE SAYS 34 P-K-K FIGHTERS HAVE SURRENDERED. THE MILITARY HAD BLANKETED THE AREA WITH LEAFLETS URGING THE GUERRILLAS TO GIVE THEMSELVES UP. IN TUNCELI, THE POLICE CHIEF PRESENTED A FORMER P-K-K FIGHTER TO THREE FOREIGN REPORTERS. THE P-K-K FIGHTER HAD SURRENDERED A FEW DAYS BEFORE. TWENTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD HUSAYN YANC SAYS HE ESCAPED FROM HIS UNIT JUST BEFORE THE LATEST OFFENSIVE AND WALKED SIX DAYS THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS UNTIL HE REACHED HIS HOME NEAR PULUMUR. HE HAD BEEN WITH THE P-K-K FOR FIVE YEARS. /// ACT IN TURKISH, FADES UNDER /// "WHEN I CAME IN THE DOOR MY FAMILY CRIED," HE SAID. "AND THEY CONVINCED ME TO SURRENDER, AND THEY CALLED THE POLICE. THE SITUATION IN THE MOUNTAINS WAS BAD," HE SAID. "WE HAD NO FOOD AND IT WAS DAMP AND DIRTY IN THE CAVES WHERE WE WERE HIDING." GOVERNOR UZELGUN SAYS HE EXPECTS THE CONTINUING MILITARY OFFENSIVE IN HIS REGION TO MARGINALIZE THE P-K-K BY THE END OF THE YEAR, DESPITE THE THE LOW NUMBER OF REBEL CASUALTIES AND THOSE WHO SURRENDERED. HE SAYS THE OPERATION IS GOING WELL. THE MILITARY STEPPED UP ITS OPERATION AGAINST THE P-K-K A MONTH AGO, EXTENDING THE OFFENSE ACROSS THE BORDER INTO NORTHERN IRAQ. THAT BROUGHT AN OUTCRY FROM EUROPEAN ALLIES WHO SAID IT VIOLATED INTERNATIONAL LAW. PRIME MINISTER TANSU CILLER SAYS SHE WILL PULL BACK THE TROOPS OVER THE NEXT WEEKS. BUT THE OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY WILL CONTINUE. (SIGNED) NEB/LK/DW 23-Apr-95 1:14 PM EDT (1714 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America