Turkey admits killing Kurdish civilians

Turkey admits that its warplanes mistakenly targeted Kurdish civilians, thought to be Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists, in airstrikes that left 35 people dead. “It has been determined from initial reports that those people [killed in the attack] were smugglers, not terrorists,” said Huseyin Celik, spokesman for Turkey's ruling party at a news conference on Thursday. "If mistakes were made, if there were flaws and if there were shortcomings in the incident that took place, by no means will these be covered up," Celik added. Turkish military confirmed that its fighter jets Wednesday night launched aerial attacks after unmanned drones spotted suspected PKK terrorists in the village of Ortasu in Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey close to the border with Iraq. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party released a statement condemning "the massacre." Turkey's main opposition party, Republican People's Party, said it was "extremely disturbed" that civilians were apparently killed in the fight against the PKK. The incident sparked clashes between hundreds of stone-throwing protesters and police in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly-Kurdish southeast. Smaller protests also erupted in Turkey's largest city Istanbul, where police fired tear gas and water cannon at pro-Kurdish demonstrators. The Turkish military began an operation in northern Iraq in October after 24 Turkish troops were killed in an attack by the PKK in the town of Cukurca near the Iraqi border. The army killed 36 PKK members in Kazan Valley of Hakkari province. The PKK launched an armed campaign against Turkey in 1984 in a quest to gain autonomy for Kurds living in the southeast of the country.