Tens of thousands of Turks in cities across Turkey attended the funerals on Sunday of 15 soldiers slain in a clash with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party .One soldier was buried near the southeastern city of Diyarbakır, his coffin carried by fellow soldiers and family members.
Turkey has vowed to wage an all-out fight against the terrorists following the killing Friday of the 15 soldiers in a raid on a military unit near the Iraqi border. Twenty soldiers were wounded and two more were missing, the government said.
The military planned a news conference Sunday about military countermeasures taken since the attack.Dozens of flag-waving protesters gathered outside the Parliament building early Sunday, chanting: "Down with the PKK." The protesters also denounced members of a pro-Kurdish party which is facing closure on charges of ties to the terrorist organization."PKK get out of Parliament," they shouted.Turkish troops have killed at least 23 terrorists since the attack in clashes in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq in the deadliest battle in eight months. The terrorists belonged to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast since 1984. Turkey's civilian leaders vowed to respond to the terrorists harshly."Whatever the cost, the fight will go on full force," President Abdullah Gül said in televised address Saturday.The military did not say whether Turkish soldiers crossed into Iraq on Friday, but said terrorists attacked the soldiers near a military outpost in Aktütün, Turkey, close to the Iraqi border, and Turkish warplanes, helicopters and artillery units pounded the PKK positions in northern Iraq.Next week, Turkey's Parliament is scheduled to vote on whether to extend for another year a mandate authorizing the military to carry out cross-border operations against the PKK bases in northern Iraq. The current authority expires Oct. 17.
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