ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 11 (UPI) — Turkey on Sunday said it killed dozens of militants with the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, just one day after a suicide blast left more than 90 people dead in the Turkish capital.
The Turkish air force says it conducted airstrikes in the the Lice area of Diyarbakir province, in southeastern Turkey, on Saturday, killing 14 PKK fighters, while Sunday airstrikes in the Metina and Zap areas of northern Iraq killed another 35 of the rebels.
The announcement comes one day after at least 95 people perished in a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital of Ankara. Officials suspect the Islamic State was responsible for the attack, which was the worst to hit Turkey in years.
Turkey began conducting airstrikes against IS forces in Syria after a July suicide bombing killed 32 people in Suruc, but it also began attacking PKK camps at the same time, including in northern Iraq, shattering a 2013 cease-fire with the Kurdish militants.
The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, is reported to have claimed responsibility for the July killing of two police officers in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, thus prompting an end of the truce.
Opposition critics, however, have accused the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of ending the agreement after the pro-Kurd Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, deprived the Justice and Development Party, or AK party, of its majority rule during elections earlier this year.
The Sunday strikes comes one day after the PKK called for a unilateral cease-fire, telling its members to fight only if attacked.
Hurriyet Daily News quoted heads of the outlawed KCK, the PKK’s umbrella group, as saying the order was issued based on calls from inside and outside Turkey for an end to attacks that could compromise a “fair and just election” on Nov. 1.
Turkish officials reportedly dismissed the move, saying they would continue operations against PKK forces and calling for the rebels to lay down their arms and leave the country.
The developments come as two Turkish soldiers were reported killed Sunday during a clash with the PKK in the eastern province of Erzurum.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.