Turkey to build military base in southeastern city of Çukurca

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plans to establish a military base in the southeastern province of Hakkari to intensify its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to military sources, the base would be built in the Kale Tepe area in the rural site of the Çukurca district of Hakkarı.

Nearly two weeks in, Turkish security forces have been conducting intensified attacks on PKK terrorist in the so-called Ertüş Camp that includes Kale Tepe, the outskirts of Hisar Mountain, the village of Ertüş and Uzendere areas.

About 200 terrorist were neutralized as most of the area was purged of the PKK.

The area between mountains, was believed to be one of the terrorists' strongest position terrorists and the Turkish military is determined to clean it entirely of the PKK within the upcoming days.

After cleaning the area a military base will be built in Kale Tepe area in order to prevent terrorist elements' free movement in the area, especially from crossing into Turkey from Iraq.

The base would be used as the center of the fight against terrorism in southeast Turkey as well as northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains, the so-called headquarters of the PKK.

Last week, Prime Mİnister Binali Yıldırım indicated that Turkey had changed its strategy to fight terrorism saying, “We will be on the offense, not the defense. We will find and neutralize these cowards wherever they are, in whichever cave and under whichever stone they may be.”

The operation against the PKK in the mountainous area in the southeast follows a series of successful operations in city centers and rural areas since last summer.

The latest operation is expected to expand to the PKK's access route from Iraq to Turkey between Çukcura and the Dağlıca mountainous area.