Turkish helicopter downed in Hakkari

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – On Friday, two Turkish pilots were killed when a military helicopter was downed and six soldiers were killed in clashes with the Kurdish fighters in the Kurdish southeastern province of Hakkari (known in Kurdish as Colemêrg).

Kurdistan24 news team in Diyarbakir reported that eight Turkish military personnel were killed in clashes with the Kurdish fighters and in downing a Turkish military helicopter in Hakkari’s district of Cukurca (known in Kurdish as Çelê). Six Kurdish fighters were also killed in the clashes.

The Kurdish units of HPG, the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter but Turkish military said that the helicopter crashed due to a technical issue.

“A helicopter was sent to the area but it crashed at around 5:50 a.m. due to an unknown technical problem,” Turkey's leading secular media Hurriyet Daily News reported on Friday.

However, Kurdistan24 learned from Kurdish sources in the HPG leadership that the helicopter was shot down by the HPG fighters.

Additionally, Netherlands-based Kurdish Firat News Agency (ANF), a close associate of HPG, reported on Friday that HPG fighters downed the Turkish helicopter and that HPG is expected to release a statement on the incident soon.

“Reports are coming through that the helicopter was shot down by HPG guerrillas,” ANF said.

Turkey’s southeast has been scorched by violence since a ceasefire between the PKK and the government collapsed last July. Round-the-clock curfews were instituted in parts of the southeast.

A top UN official recently denounced Turkish government's military abuses in the Kurdistan of Turkey, stating that more than 100 people were burned to death while sheltering in basements in Cizre.

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Ava Homa