Two non-commissioned officers and one specialist sergeant of the İkipınar Gendarmerie were killed in an armed conflict with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) at around 11.40 pm on Saturday night (23 July). İkipınar is a village that belongs to the district of Ömerli of the Kurdish-majority city of Mardin in south-eastern Turkey. The gendarmerie officers were on their way back to the gendarmerie post after they had followed an invitation to a house in the village.
Non-commissioned Officer Sergeant Major Erhan Gül from Gaziantep, Non-commissioned Officer Sergeant Major Sadık Güllü from Kırıkkale and Specialist Sergeant Ali Öztürk were killed in the clashes.
The Governor of Mardin, Turhan Ayvaz, announced after the incident that a large-scale military operation was launched in the region.
The bodies of the gendarmerie officers were brought to the Military Hospital of Diayrbakır for an autopsy.
Furthermore, Fırat News Agency reported that a military operation was also launched in the Uzunsırt region in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari (south-eastern Turkey). According to the agency, a special command from the Yüksekova Brigade Command and 45 military vehicles carrying soldiers were deployed in the region between Yüksekova and Şemdinli on Saturday night. It was reported that operations intensified in the region between Uzunsır and Kanımaran in particular. (IC/YY/VK)
