ANKARA: A car was set ablaze near Turkiye’s parliament on Tuesday in a grim reminder of decades of conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), just hours before families of some victims were to address a commission overseeing the group’s disarmament.
The PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, said in May it would disarm and dissolve. The parliamentary commission was launched this month to set a path toward lasting peace, which would also resonate in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
The white Renault Toros burned for a short time outside parliament’s main gate on Tuesday morning. Police in Ankara said in a statement that a man detained for setting it alight suffered from psychological problems and also had a prior criminal record.
In the 1990s, during one of the bloodiest phases of the PKK conflict, such vehicles became notorious in the mainly Kurdish southeast where they were linked to abductions and extrajudicial killings blamed on state-linked groups.
More than 40,000 people were killed in the fighting over more than four decades.
Families of security personnel and civilians killed in the conflict are due to speak at the parliamentary commission on Tuesday, with some expected to question the peace effort.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye and its Western allies. Its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, had urged it to end the insurgency and some militants burned their weapons last month in a ceremony in northern Iraq — where they are now based — marking a symbolic first step.
Car set ablaze outside Turkish parliament before meeting on PKK disarmament
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Car set ablaze outside Turkish parliament before meeting on PKK disarmament
- The scene served as a grim reminder of decades of conflict with the PKK just hours before families of victims were to address a commission overseeing the group’s disarmament
Israeli authorities demolish two Palestinian homes near Ramallah and Jerusalem
- Forces demolished house in Deir Qaddis village, west of Ramallah, using a military bulldozer after storming the area
- Israeli army announced plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank later this week
LONDON: Israeli authorities demolished two houses in Ramallah and East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
Israeli forces demolished a house in Deir Qaddis village, west of Ramallah, using a military bulldozer after storming the area. The two-story house, home to more than ten residents, belonged to Nader Khawaja and was built 15 years ago, according to the Wafa news agency.
In Rafat, a town located northwest of Jerusalem, Israeli bulldozers demolished a house that a Palestinian owned.
On Monday, the Israeli army announced plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank later this week.
Since late 2023, Israeli authorities have conducted more than 1,014 demolitions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, targeting more than 3,679 buildings, including 1,288 inhabited homes, 244 uninhabited homes, and 962 agricultural and other structures.
Israel’s home-demolition policies aim to forcibly displace Palestinians and expand Israeli settlements in Jerusalem, in violation of international and humanitarian laws that guarantee the right to housing, Wafa added.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
