ConflictBarometer_2015

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
with repeated airstrikes by the government and PKK attacks,
leaving at least 2,057 people killed and approx. 100,000 displaced
by the end of the year. Furthermore, the government
frequently imposed curfews on several provinces.
On February 28, Turkish government officials held a joint
press conference with representatives of the pro-Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) announcing their willingness
to negotiate with the PKK over political solutions for
common issues regarding for example Kurdish authorities or
disarmament of the PKK. Earlier the same day, the imprisoned
PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan urged his party to find a peaceful
solution for the conflict. However, according to the Turkish
Armed Forces (TAF), PKK fighters attacked a TAF security task
force in Diyadin district, Agri province, on April 11, injuring
four soldiers. In an ensuing shootout, soldiers reportedly
shot dead five PKK militants.
On June 7, HDP gained 13.1 percent of the votes in the
general elections, thereby obtaining 80 seats in parliament,
while the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to gain an absolute majority for
the first time since 2002. After the formation of a coalition
government failed, new elections were set for November 1
[→ Turkey (opposition)].
From July onwards, tensions between the government und
the PKK continuously escalated. PKK blamed the government
for not having prevented the suicide bombing conducted by
the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Suruc, Sanliurfa province,
on July 20 [→ Syria, Iraq et al. (IS)]. On July 22, PKK militants
killed two Turkish police officers, whom the group accused
of having cooperated with IS, in their homes in Ceylanpinar,
Sanliurfa. On July 24, TAF began air raids on PKK positions
in Dahuk, Arbil, and As Sulaymaniyah governorates, northern
Iraq. The following day, TAF carried out strikes on PKK camps,
shelters, and storages using 90 fighter jets including F-16 and
F-4E-2020. On July 25, PKK stated that the 2013 ceasefire
was meaningless, accusing the government of having ended
it unilaterally with its air strikes. From July 24 to 31, TAF
airstrikes left at least 200 PKK fighters dead and over 300
injured in Dahuk governorate in the autonomous Kurdish
Region in Iraq. The strikes continued until the end of the year.
Starting on July 24, TAF and police launched several operations
in Hakkari, Sirnak, Mardin, and Diyarbakir provinces,
detaining members of the PKK and its youth wing Yurtsever
Devrimci Gençlik Hareketi.
The PKK-affiliated Kurdistan Community Union declared autonomy
of the districts of Silopi and Cizre, Sirnak province,
and Nusaybin, Mardin province, on August 10. Five days
later, regional Kurdish officials made similar statements for
the Silvan district in Diyarbakir and the province of Batman.
Starting on August 23, Turkish security forces responded with
the arrest of several Kurdish local officials in the southeast,
among them Silvan co-mayors Yüksel Bodakç and Meliksah
Teke as well as the co-mayors of Sur district Seyid Narin and
Fatma Barut. During a TAF military operation from September
4 to September 11 in Cizre, Sirnak, which was placed under
curfew, TAF killed 40 PKK members and allegedly killed over
30 civilians. In Hakkari, between September 25 and November
5, TAF used fighter jets and helicopters and deployed
over 6,000 troops to attack PKK positions, shelters, and
storages, leaving 119 PKK members and nine security forces
dead. In attacks against police stations and government
offices as well as military and police convoys mainly carried
out in Bitlis, Bingöl, Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak, Sanliurfa,
Izmir, and Van provinces, PKK militants killed at least twelve
security personnel in July, 59 in August and 55 in September.
In the run-up to the November elections, the government accused
PKK of complicity in the October 10 suicide bombings
carried out by IS in Ankara that had left 102 civilians dead.
PKK, in contrast, stated that the government was involved
in the bombings and announced a unilateral ceasefire for
the election in which AKP then won the majority. After
continuous military attacks, the group ended the ceasefire
on November 5.
Between November 3 and November 14, TAF used tanks
and fighter jets in Silvan, Diyarbakir, to destroy PKK shelters,
caves, and ammunition depots. At least five security forces
and twelve PKK members were killed in the fighting and
over 10,000 residents were displaced. On December 14, TAF
started a continuing operation with over 10,000 troops using
tanks, armored vehicles, and helicopters in Cizre and Silopi,
Sirnak. By the end of the year, a total of 183 PKK members
and 38 civilians were reported killed. In a similar operation in
Sur, Diyarbakir, TAF killed 45 PKK members. According to the
government, a total of 100,000 residents fled the violence in
Sirnak, Diyarbakir, and Mardin provinces since the beginning
of the military operations in December. In his New Year's
address on December 31, Erdogan claimed his government
had killed 3,100 PKK members in 2015 and announced to
continue operations against the group in 2016.
pko
TURKEY RUSSIA
Intensity: 3 | Change: NEW | Start: 2015
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Turkey vs. Russia
international power
A new violent crisis over international power erupted between
Russia and Turkey. While the immediate trigger of
the conflict was the downing of a Russian military jet by
Turkey in November, the latter repeatedly criticized Russia's
involvement in the Syrian civil war [→ Syria (opposition)].
Furthermore, Turkey accused Russia of aerial bombings on
Turkmen dominated regions, while Russia claimed that Turkey
supported the so-called Islamic State (IS) [→ Syria, Iraq et al.
(IS)].
Turkey's foreign ministry reported two incursions of Russian
warplanes in Turkish airspace on October 3 and 4. Russia confirmed
the entrance of a Su-30 fighter jet on October 3 and
argued that bad weather had been the cause of the violation.
In mid-November, Turkey summoned Russia's ambassador
over Russia's alleged bombing of Turkmen villages in the
Syrian Bayirbucak region, Latakia District. On November 24,
Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24 military
jet near the Turkish town of Yayladagi, Hatay Province, along
the Turkish-Syrian border. While one crew member was shot
dead by Syrian rebels when parachuting, the other was rescued
by Syrian government troops.
Turkish authorities claimed the jet had violated Turkish
airspace and had been warned repeatedly. Russia rejected
these claims, stating that there had been no warnings from
the Turkish side. The same day, Russian President Vladimir
Putin harshly criticized the downing, calling it a ''stab in the
back.'' One day later, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced
it would suspend military cooperation with Turkey.
Russia further deployed S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to its
Syrian airbase in Hmeimin, Latakia.
On November 29, Putin signed a decree imposing economic
sanctions on Turkey. The decree issued, among other things,
import restrictions regarding food, the banning of charter
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