(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Turkish Air Force’s recent airstrike in the Kurdish majority region of southern Turkey that killed 35 Kurds has caused a major controversy, especially among Turkey’s main political circles.The fact that the people killed during the December 28 airstrike were all civilians is one of the main factors behind the extensive media coverage of the event. Twenty-eight of the victims came from the same family and had the same surname. Seventeen were youths and children under the age of 18, indicating that it is unlikely that they were members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).Many believe that the victims were mostly smugglers who were travelling across the boarder areas. Due to the high poverty rate in the region and its poor infrastructure, many Kurds, and sometimes entire families, rely on smuggling to meet their daily needs.The Turkish military has been harshly criticized by the media for mistakenly targeting civilians. Even the Turkish government has seriously reprimanded the military for the deadly blunder.The intelligence department of the Turkish Air Force was initially held responsible for the tragic error.Later, others said the faulty intelligence was not provided by the military but was actually provided by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).This has caused many political problems for the Turkish government.Many observers believe that the case is another link in the long and historic chain of conflicts between the Kurdish minority and Turkey’s central government.The recent airstrike once again proves that the dispute between the two sides is not going to quickly fade away and the Kurdish problem will only become more complicated.Ali Kali-Rad is a visiting researcher at Ankara University and an expert on Turkish politics./129
AhlulBayt News Agency