ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
it for another three months on October 3.
In the scope of the state of emergency, about 110,000 soldiers,
policemen, gendarmes, judges, prosecutors, mayors,
civil servants and business leaders were dismissed or arrested
by the beginning of November. Arrest warrants had
been obtained against at least 31,048 persons by the beginning
of October. Over 22,000 remained under judicial
control. Until the end of the year, the government continued
to dismiss or arrest persons allegedly linked to the Gülen
movement or the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) [→ Turkey
(PKK, TAK)]. Human Rights organisations reported torture and
mistreatment of some of the detainees. On October 29, President
Erdogan announced to discuss the reintroduction of the
death penalty for coup plotters in parliament. Meanwhile,
about 1,500 NGOs had been banned. The government also
continued to shut down news agencies, television and radio
stations as well as Universities. Between the July coup attempt
and November, at least 150 media outlets were shut
down.
On November 5, nine journalists of the oppositional
Cumhuriyet were arrested for alleged links to the Gülen
Movement and the PKK. About 1,000 protesters attempted
to enter the Cumhuriyet building in Istanbul city and were
dispersed by police with tear gas and water cannons. The
board chairman, Akin Atalay, was also arrested on November
11. pal
TURKEY (PKK, TAK)
Intensity: 5 | Change: | Start: 1974
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
PKK, TAK vs. government
autonomy
The war over autonomy between the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) and the PKK's alleged offshoot, the Kurdistan Freedom
Falcons (TAK), on the one hand, and the government, on the
other hand, continued.
The two and a half year long peace process, which was supported
by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
and the PKK, had collapsed in mid-2015. In the context of
the 2015 elections, tensions between the AKP and the pro-
Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) intensified in the aftermath.
The government repeatedly accused the HDP of being
linked to PKK. On April 4, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
stated that PKK militants had no other option than surrendering
and dismissed the possibility for further negotiations. On
June 16, HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas condemned terror
acts against civilians, demanding TAK's disbandment. Following
the attempted coup in mid-July, the government declared
a state of emergency. Subsequently, 24 mayors accused of
links to PKK were dismissed and replaced by state-appointed
trustees in August and September. Twelve of the mayors were
197
arrested by mid-September. They were either members of the
HDP or of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP). A
bill that enabled the lifting of parliamentary immunity from
judicial prosecution was approved by Erdogan already on
June 7. Furthermore, 11,285 teachers allegedly linked to the
PKK were suspended in September [→ Turkey (opposition
groups)].
Clashes between the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and PKK
mostly affected the provinces of Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakir,
and Mardin, Turkey, as well as the governorates Dahuk and Arbil
in northern Iraq. Sporadic clashes also occurred in several
other provinces in eastern Turkey. In contrast, TAK claimed
responsibility for several suicide bombing attacks against security
personnel in the provinces of Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakir,
as well as the western provinces Bursa and Istanbul. During
clashes and in bomb attacks, PKK and TAK killed at least 540
security personnel, while TAF killed 2,241 militants in ground
and aerial supported operations, including 402 PKK militants
in Dahuk and Arbil. Fighting and bomb attacks also left at
least 173 civilians dead and over 1,000 injured. Moreover, at
least 192,000 residents were displaced. The government frequently
imposed curfews on several provinces and districts
while conducting military operations.
Military operations in Diyarbakir and Sirnak had started in
2015 and continued throughout this year. At least 110 PKK
militants and 115 security personnel were killed during operations
in Diyarbakir. For instance, in January, 18 security
personnel and 27 PKK militants were killed, as well as 2,000
residents displaced, due to clashes in Sur district. In Sirnak,
TAF reportedly killed 576 militants throughout the year, using
heavy aerial support, while militants killed 73 security personnel
in clashes. For example, in February, fights between
security personnel and PKK left 96 militants and eleven security
personnel dead as well as around 100,000 residents
displaced in Cizre district.
Throughout the year, TAK conducted bomb attacks in several
cities. For instance, TAK targeted several military buses with
a car bomb in the capital Ankara, killing 28 and injuring 61,
on February 17. Subsequently, TAK stated that the attack was
in retaliation for the military operations in eastern Turkey and
announced further attacks. On March 13, TAK conducted another
car bomb attack at Kizilay Square in the capital, killing
36 and injuring 100, mostly civilians.
From March 13 onwards, TAF conducted operations against
PKK militants in the city of Nusaybin, Mardin. In March, 142
militants and 22 security personnel were killed as well as
50,000 residents displaced. The same month, clashes between
security personnel and PKK left 37 dead and around
40,000 residents displaced in Yuksekova district, Hakkari.
On August 18, PKK militants detonated asuicide car bomb,
killing three policemen and injuring 112 people in the city
of Elazig, eponymous province. The same day, President Erdogan
accused followers of the Islamic preacher Fethullah
Gulen, leader of the Gulen Movement, of sharing information
and intelligence with PKK militants and being complicit in PKK
attacks. After PKK militants had conducted another car bomb
attack in Cizre district on August 26, killing eleven policemen
and wounding 78, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim declared an
all-out war against terrorism.
Throughout the year, TAF killed at least 720 PKK militants in
ongoing operations in Hakkari, over 500 of them between