"There May Be Cross-Border Operations"

Today, there was a three and a half hour meeting of the High Commission for the Fight against Terrorism at the Prime Ministerial headquarters.

Ministers,soldiers, secret service, police

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin, Minister of the Interior Besir Atalay, Minister of Defence Vecdi Gönül, Minister of Finance Kemal Unakitan, Prime Ministerial Secretary of State Efkan Ala, as well as the Gendarmie General Commander Isık Kosaner, the Deputy Chief of General Staff Ergin Saygun, the General Secretary of the National Security Council Atila Onkök, Special Representative for the Fight against Terrorism Rafet Akgünay, MIT (Secret Service) Secretary of State Emre Taner, and Security General Director Oguz Kagan Köksal.

According to NTV news,  cross-border operations are a possibility.

A written statement from the Prime Minsterial Office after the meeting said:

"At the meeting, the recent terrorist events, particularly the loathsome attacks on our civilians and security force in Sirnak, were evaluated, and additional precautions and measures necessary to continue the fight against terrorism were discussed."

Escalation of violence

Turkey has seen an escalation of violence in recent weeks.

Following the death of thirteen soldiers in the south-eastern province of Sirnak on Sunday (7 October), two more soldiers died yesterday (8 October) in mine explosions in Diyarbakir and Sirnak and three were injured.

Last week, twelve villagers, seven of them village guards, were killed in an attack on a minibus in Sirnak's district of Beytüssebap. The PKK has denied carrying out the attack.

According to data from the General Staff, more than 175 PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party) militants have been killed since April 2007. The number of soldiers who have died in the same period is not clear, but there are regular reports of deaths. (EÜ/AG)