The Turkish army has killed more than 50 Kurdish militants in a week

The Turkish military has killed more than 50 suspected Kurdish militants in two separate operations last week, one of which consisted of air strikes in northern Iraq, we learn Monday Sources close to the security services. The Turkish armed forces last week launched an extensive ground and air offensive against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey. Two thousand soldiers who participated. They were supported by F-16 fighters and attack helicopters. In a statement, the military said its planes bombed 14 targets in northern Iraq between 5 and September 9 and 25 activists were "rendered ineffective" in the operation, a term used by the military to evoke rebels killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Friday, we had said a source close to the security services that the current offensive by the Turkish army against the rebels, centered on the province of Sirnak, bordering Syria and Iraq, had killed 26 people in the PKK's only Turkish side of the border. On Monday, the same source indicates that the Turkish army killed 26 PKK activists in other operation this weekend in Hakkari province in southeastern Turkey. This report could not be independently verified. Summer ending was one of the deadliest since the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 to create a Kurdish state. The Turkish army said to have killed 300 PKK militants between February and August indicates that 88 Turkish soldiers were killed between early and late last week. Ankara suspects Syria to play a direct role in the aggravation of the situation, that Bashar al-Assad denies. Once near the Syrian president, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has become one of its most fervent critics after the popular uprising against the Baathist regime there eighteen months and does not exclude military action against positions separatists in Syria. The Turkish army has carried out extensive military exercises Wednesday near the border with Syria.