Tension heightens in Turkey after hostage killings

Two opposition MPs are under investigation for tweeting about the government's failure to rescue 13 captives found dead in a northern Iraq cave complex last week

The coffin and image of Turkish Lt. Ertug Guler are carried during the funeral of three Turkish military personnel killed in action at Ankara's Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara on February 12, 2021. AFPShow less

The deaths of 13 Turkish police, soldiers and – potentially – intelligence officers in northern Iraq have led Ankara to increase its efforts to link Kurdish militants to the domestic opposition.

But the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under fire for an operation against Kurdish militants, during which the bodies were found.

Fifty-one militants died in the operation, Turkish officials said.

The Turkish military announced on Sunday that it had found the bodies, which all had bullet wounds, in a cave complex during the battle against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous Gara region, near the Turkey-Iraq border.

The PKK said three days of air strikes and battles “resulted in the death of some of the [Turkish intelligence] members, soldiers and policemen we had captured".

Turkish officials initially tried to give gave the impression that the hostages were civilians, but 11 were later identified as police officers or soldiers captured by the PKK in Turkey between 2015 and 2016.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi at a welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara. Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi at the presidential palace in Ankara. EPA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi review a guard of honour at the presidential palace in Ankara. AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi adhere to social distancing during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara. AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi at the presidential palace in Ankara. AP

After the discovery of the bodies, Turkish officials took to social media to link the PKK to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a left-wing party with roots in the Kurdish movement and third largest party in the Turkish Parliament.

The HDP has denied direct links to the PKK. It acted as an intermediary in peace talks between the government and the PKK from 2013 to 2015.

The coffins of three Turkish military members killed in Iraq are carried during funeral prayers at Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara on February 12, 2021. AFP

Dozens of its elected officials, including former MPs and mayors, are in prison on charges of supporting the PKK in what many consider to be politically motivated cases.

Meanwhile, two HDP MPs were put under investigation for “provocative” tweets about the operation.

The MPs had tweeted about their earlier contacts with the victims’ families to secure the hostages' release and accused the government of turning its back on efforts to free them.

The party said the release of captured police and soldiers had previously been achieved through “diplomatic efforts".

The Gara victims’ families had visited HDP politicians on at least four occasions.

“Unfortunately, the government avoided taking on its diplomatic and humanitarian responsibilities to save the lives and ensure the freedom of its own officials who [have been] lost in a military operation without any clear purpose or target,” the two said.

An MP from another opposition party said he had submitted six parliamentary questions on the fate of the hostages since 2016.

“Put aside the empty cries, give an account of why you haven’t done anything for years,” Murat Bakan said as he addressed the government in Parliament last week.

“We’ve been shouting with the families for years. Where were you?”

Ankara has long protested against US support for PKK-linked fighters in Syria who led the campaign against ISIS, and against what it sees as European and American tolerance of protests, fund-raising and media activities on behalf of the PKK.

A message of condolence from the US, in which it condemned the killings “if reports … are confirmed", was seized on as illustrating a lack of support for Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Human Rights Association said military authorities should be “held accountable for the possible consequences of carrying out a highly risky military operation”.

“All information and documents relating to the military operations must be shared with the authorised chief prosecutor’s office," association co-chair Ozturk Turkdogan said.

"The Grand National Assembly of Turkey must investigate this issue and bring it to light by setting up an investigation commission.”

The day before the deaths were announced, the father of one hostage, police Sgt Semih Ozbey, called for an end to the Gara operation.

“Of course, I'm against these operations,” Gursel Ozbey told the Mesopotamia news agency.

“If the state is operating where we have children. I want it stopped as soon as possible. I'll get hold of whoever hurts my child.”