March 12, 2006:
Turkish sources argue that the PKK has increased the number of anti-government attacks in order to put pressure on the government to negotiate with the organization. The Turkish government categorically refuses to negotiate with terrorist organizations-- and it classifies the PKK as a terror organization. There is no indication Turkey will change this policy. Turkey's parliament is continuing to investigate the Semdinli incident (November 2005), where Turkish special security troops are accused of bombing a bookstore in Semdinli. The incident kicked off three weeks of riots in Kurdish areas. It grew into a major investigation that --according to a Turkish prosecutor-- indicates senior Turkish military officers "stoked" the "Kurdish issue" in order to undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
March 10, 2006: Turkey reported that a PKK suicide bomber killed himself and two other people in a suicide bomb attack in the city of Van.
March 9, 2006: In Diyarbakir a court sentenced a Kurdish student to ten months in jail because he help up a sign picturing the PKK flag. The PKK flag is outlawed in Turkey.
March 8, 2006: A senior Turkish general is believed to be using Turkey's "Kurd War" as a way to keep Turkey out of the European Union. The accusations are complex but worth considering. The November 2005 Semdinli bombing and subsequent riots are part of the accusations and the story. The British Independent (one of several papers carrying this story) said that a Turkish prosecutors believes General Yasae Buyukanit (head of Turkey's land forces) set up a clandestine military unit that kept Turkey's Kurdish region "stoked." Buyukanit apparently did not want Turkey joining the EU. Indictments of three men involved in the Semdinli incident led to the investigation of Buyukanit's activities and the accusation that Buyukanit believed criticism of Turkey's treatment of the Kurds would insure that the EU would not let Turkey join. Meanwhile, the Turkish government said that it would probe the prosecutor.
March 6, 2006: Four Turkish police were killed in the city of Batman (southeastern Turkey) where attackers ambushed their vehicle