Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

374 • KURDISTAN WORKERS’ PARTYinterventions against PKK bases within Iraq. Other Turkish sourceshave accused the United States of violating its own ban on support ofPKK by U.S. special forces allegedly giving arms and other materialsupport to PJAK units within Iran as part of covert operations againstIran.During January–March 2007 some 27 PKK terrorists were killedby Turkish forces, who lost 16 soldiers to land mines. On 22 May2007 a suicide bombing of an Ankara shopping district killed fourcivilians and injured al least 100 others.On 21 October 2007 a particularly severe clash involving PKKrebels, operating from inside northern Iraq, led to the deaths of 12Turkish soldiers and 32 rebels. Turkish Prime Minister Recep TayyipErdogen called an emergency meeting of the Turkish Grand NationalAssembly, which passed a motion to authorize the Turkish armedforces to carry offensive operations against the PKK into northernIraq. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani rejected the Turkish demandthat he shut down all PKK bases in northern Iraq. Beginning on 16December 2007 and continuing into late March 2008, the Turkishair force undertook at least five aerial bombardments of PKK baseswithin the Iraqi border and also pounded the bases with artillery. On21 February 2008 an incursion involving 10,000 Turkish soldierspenetrating six miles into northern Iraq encountered resistance byPKK peshmerga units. Another air attack on 2 May 2008 killedmore than 150 PKK troops in the Qandil Mountains.The PKK responded to the Turkish offensive by bombings in bothTurkey and Iraq: On 28 July 2008 the PKK exploded a small device inthe Gungore district of Istanbul. After a curious crowd gathered at thescene, another, more powerful secondary bomb exploded, killing 17and injuring 154 others. On the same day, the PKK carried out a suicidebombing in Kirkuk using a female volunteer targeting a politicalrally, killing 25 and injuring 185 others, while three other female PKKsuicide bombers hit Shi’ite pilgrims gathering near the al-Kāżimiyyahshrine north of Baghdad, killing 32 people and injuring 102 others.On 5 August 2008 the PKK bombed the section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline near the town of Refahiya in ErzincanProvince, shutting down the daily delivery of one million barrels ofAzerbaijani oil to the Turkish Mediterranean port city of Ceyhan. ThePKK had threatened to attack this pipeline since 2005. Although thepipeline was repaired quickly, reports of this attack contributed to a