Turkey airstrike
December 29, 2011
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed deep regret over an air strike by his country's airforce in which 35 civilians were killed near the country's southeastern border with Iraq.
The airforce had mistakenly believed a group of smugglers to be Kurdish militants.
"Our grief is great," Erdogan told reporters, calling the incident "unfortunate and distressing."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has also called the strike "an unintended, unfortunate and saddening incident."
"May God's mercy be upon those who lost their lives," Gul told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul. "I would like to convey my condolences to their families."
Teenage victims
The strike took place near the Kurdish village of Ortasu in Sirnak.
The governor's office in Sirnak province raised the first reported death toll of 30, saying "35 people were killed and another person wounded in an aerial operation."
Nazmi Gur, a pro-Kurdish legislator, said most of the victims were teenagers, who may have been smuggling fuel from Iraq. He says the illicit diesel trade is known as one of the few sources of money for local villagers.
Leaders of the Kurdish nationalist party, or BDP, have called the air strike a "crime against humanity." Kurds staged protests in Istanbul and Diyarbakir on Thursday.
Misleading intelligence
The Turkish military said it had received intelligence that militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would be crossing through the region.
Erdogan said the fact that the group of smugglers was so large compared with the usual small smuggler groups had fuelled the military's suspicion that it was made up of terrorists.
The general staff has since issued a statement on its website, saying "We wish God's mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in the incident that took place on the night of December 28, 2011, and we also convey our condolences to their families."
Raids stepped up
The Turkish government pledged to step up air raids and ground strikes in October after the PKK killed 24 Turkish soldiers in attacks on military outposts in the southeastern region.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States and is said to operate from hideouts in Iraqi mountains along the border.
Thousands have died since the PKK began its fight for autonomy in 1984.
Author: Zulfikar Abbany (dpa, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Nicole Goebel