PKK backers martyr police officer in Turkey protest

By Omer Yildiz, Sener Toktas and Ekrem Payan

ADANA/SIRNAK/BITLIS, Turkey (AA) - A police officer was martyred when PKK supporters threw Molotov at security forces during an unauthorized demonstration in southern Adana province Sunday, a police source said.

The source, who spoke anonymously due to security concerns, said the PKK supporters also threw stones at the police in Yuregir district.

Police were trying to disperse the demonstrators, when they came under attack.

The martyred police officer had succumbed to wounds at a local hospital.

Meanwhile, at least nine PKK terrorists were killed and another one was captured during security operations in Turkey’s southeastern and eastern provinces on Sunday.

Six PKK terrorists were killed in Cudi Mountain region and two others were killed in Bestler-Dereler region of Sirnak province, while one PKK terrorist was captured, the regional governor’s office said.

In a statement, the office said the operation in the province’s Bestler-Dereler region remains ongoing.

Numerous weapons were also seized during the operation, the statement added.

In addition, another PKK terrorist was killed in eastern Bitlis province, the provincial governor's office said on Sunday.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year.

Since then, PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 700 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while nearly 8,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.

Erdogan on Sunday said the PKK had so far killed 787 security personnel and 312 civilians as well as injuring over 4,000 security forces and more than 2,000 civilians since July 20, 2015.