TURKISH SOLDIERS KILLED IN ATTACK

BBC NEWS
urope/8399926.stm
2009/12/07 16:24:48 GMT

Seven Turkish soldiers have been shot dead after gunmen opened fire
on a military unit in northern Turkey, officials have said.

A further four soldiers were injured in the attack, which took place
in the town of Resadiye in Tokat province.

There was no immediate indication of who was behind the attack.

However, both Kurdish and leftist militants are reported to be active
in the area.

Attacks on military bases in the north of the country are, however,
rare.

Rising tensions

According to one local television report, the soldiers were on patrol
near a military outpost in a mountainous area and during foggy weather
when they came under fire.

It was the worst attack since April when Kurdish militants killed 10
soldiers with a remote-controlled bomb in the country’s southeast.

The ambush came as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was preparing to
meet President Barack Obama in Washington. Government moves to improve
Kurdish rights are likely to be on the agenda.

There have been rising ethnic tensions over recent days ahead of a
court hearing on whether the country’s largest pro-Kurdish political
party, the Democratic Society Party, should be closed down.

On Sunday, one man died in clashes between police and protesters in
the south-east of the country.

In the past, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has carried out
attacks on military targets. Extreme leftist groups active in northern
Turkey are believed to have signed co-operation pacts with the PKK.