United States: We stand with our NATO Ally Turkey

Shafaq News/ Turkey received message of condolence from the United States over the PKK attack which killed Turkish citizens in northern Iraq.

 “The United States deplores the death of Turkish citizens in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We stand with our NATO Ally Turkey and extend our condolences to the families of those lost in the recent fighting. If reports of the death of Turkish civilians at the hands of the PKK, a designated terrorist organization, are confirmed, we condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.” U.S. Department of State said in a press statement.

US embassy to turkey said on Twitter, “Saddened by the killing of Turkish soldiers by PKK terrorists. Our condolences to the families of the fallen, we stand by our NATO ally Turkey.”

Yesterday, Turkey has found bodies of 13 citizens were found in PKK cave in Kara, northern Iraq.

According to Aydın Baruş, the governor of Turkey's eastern province of Malatya, “the abducted individuals were moved across various locations in northern Iraq for about six years and eventually brought to a PKK prison in the Kara region, where they were shot at close-range. One was shot in the chest and the other 12 in the head.”

“Most of the executed citizens were forcibly abducted by the PKK while they were traveling within Turkey.” He added

Baruş denied the PKK's claims that the individuals were killed in Turkish strikes.

For his part, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar earlier said a total of 48 PKK militants - including two senior operatives - were “neutralized as part of Turkey's military operation (Claw-Eagle 2) against a PKK hideout in Kara.”