DIYARBAKIR: Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into a declaration of "democratic autonomy" by an umbrella group for Kurdish non-governmental groups, the prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
The declaration could fuel tensions in Turkey after an upsurge in Kurdish militant activity and a boycott of parliament by Kurdish deputies.
The Democratic Society Congress (DTK) announcement coincided with a clash which killed 13 Turkish soldiers and seven Kurdish armed rebels in the mainly Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakir on Thursday.
Diyarbakir prosecutors were scrutinizing the declaration at the DTK meeting, attended by 850 delegates in the city, and could open a court case against leading members of the congress.
"As the Kurdish people we declare democratic autonomy, remaining bound to the national unity of the peoples of Turkey," deputy chairwoman Aysel Tugluk said on Thursday, reading out the DTK declaration.
Around the same time, the first reports emerged of the attack in the mountains to the east of Diyarbakir.
Turkey’s chief of staff said in a statement that grenades thrown by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas ignited a fire in a heavily forested area and 13 soldiers died in the blaze. It said seven soldiers were wounded.
The Firat news agency, which has close links to the PKK, disputed the official version with a report quoting a witness saying a Turkish warplane targeted the militants in an air strike which also killed the soldiers positioned nearby.
Subsequently, unknown assailants launched a petrol bomb attack on offices of the main Kurdish BDP party in the capital Ankara overnight, broadcaster NTV reported. The attack caused a small fire but there were no reports of any casualties.
The killing of the soldiers came as troops conducted operations near Diyarbakir to rescue three people, two of them soldiers, kidnapped by the PKK last weekend. The rebels also abducted two laborers in eastern Tunceli province on Wednesday.
The autonomy declaration came a week after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan sent word through his lawyers that he had agreed with Turkish officials to set up a "peace council" aimed at ending a 27-year conflict in which 40,000 people have died.
The proposal came a month after Erdogan’s AK Party won an election for a third term in power and two months after Ocalan threatened war unless the government entered talks.
Two days of talks between the AK Party and BDP have failed to end a boycott of parliament by Kurdish deputies over court rulings barring some of its jailed elected candidates from taking their seats.
