The PKK Always Targets Civilians: A Grim Timeline

The deadly May 12 attack by the PKK terrorist organization on civilians that claimed 16 lives and injured 23 people in the Durumlu region of Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province was unfortunately anything but an isolated event; it followed decades of bloody PKK attacks, leaving behind thousands of casualties and shattered lives.



Giving no one but itself the right to live, the bloody terrorist group has carried out most of its attacks on Kurdish people with the alleged aim of liberating them.



Since the group's earliest days, the PKK has been quick to attack its rivals, the regional unarmed Kurdish groups in Turkey's southeast.



Afterwards, targeting tribes in the region, the PKK massacred civilians just to get attention. The terrorist organization kills without discrimination -- young and old, women and men -- and then tells announces this to the world through their media organs.



The below timeline compiled using Anadolu Agency archives includes some of the civilian massacres committed by the terrorist organization PKK over the decades:



Mardin



- Pınarcık Massacre (June 20, 1987): 16 killed, including 16 children and 6 women



- Behmenin Massacre (May 9, 1987): 11 killed, including 8 children (from the same family) and 2 women



- Haraberk Massacre (July 8, 1987): 9 killed, including 7 children from the same family and 2 women



- Midyat Massacre (July 22, 1991): PKK attacks vehicles carrying civilians; 19 killed



- Savur Massacre (Jan. 1, 1994): PKK kills 21 people, including 11 children



Sirnak



- Ciftekavak Massacre (Sept. 21, 1987): 5 women -- 2 of them pregnant -- and 4 children killed by PKK raid on a village



- Cobandere Massacre (Oct. 10, 1987): 13 people killed, most of them the elderly, women, or children



- Pecenek Massacre (July 8, 1987): A total of 16 people, including women and children, executed by firing squad



- March 28, 1988: PKK terrorists strangle nine shepherds, claiming they were village guards



- Cevrimli Massacre (June 10, 1990): 27 killed, including 12 children, 7 women, and 4 village guards



Bitlis



- Cevizdalı Massacre (Oct. 1, 1992): 30 people killed, including women and children



- Tatvan Massacre (June 11, 1992): PKK terrorists execute 13 people in a minibus by firing squad



Siirt



- Milan Massacre (August 18, 1987): The PKK kills 25 civilians, including 2 babies, just 3 and 6 months old. The terrorist group claims that those killed were "all" gang members



- Derince Massacre (October 21, 1993): 24 civilians killed



Elazig



- March 21, 1990: PKK members block a road and kill 9 engineers and a worker by firing squad



- Jan. 1, 1994: PKK terrorists stop two buses for "ID checks." They kill 8 people by firing squad



Istanbul



- Cetinkaya Store Massacre (Dec. 25, 1991): The PKK attacks a store in the Bakirkoy district with Molotov cocktails, taking 11 lives, including 7 women and 1 child



Spice/Egyptian Bazaar Attack (July 9, 1998): Explosives planted by PKK terrorists kill 2 and injure 121. The attackers are later caught



- Gungoren Massacre (July 27, 2008): Two separate explosives planted by PKK terrorists claim 18 lives, including 5 children, in the Gungoren district. 154 people are also injured



Diyarbakir



- Yolac Village Massacre (June 27, 1992): PKK terrorists raid a mosque during prayer time and kill 10 people



- Hamzali Massacre (Jan. 1, 1995): 20 civilians killed, most of them children, women, or the elderly



Ankara



- Anafartalar Attack (May 22, 2007): The PKK carries out a suicide bomb attack on Anafartalar Market. 9 people, including 1 Pakistani national, killed. More than 100 people are injured



Ankara Guvenpark Massacre (March 13, 2016): PKK terrorists attack the traffic-filled, central Kizilay square using a bomb-laden car. 36 people are killed and 125 others injured



Others



- Kahramanmaras - Pazarcik Massacre (July 14, 1991): PKK terrorists kill 9 people, including women and children in the Caglayancerit and Pazarcik districts



- Batman - Seki Village Massacre (June 22, 1992): The PKK kills 10 people, including children, in a raid on the houses of 2 village guards. A newborn, 1 month old, was among the victims



- Erzincan - Basbaglar Massacre (June 5, 1993): PKK terrorists set fire to the village of Basbaglar after killing 33 people



- Bingol Massacre (May 24, 1993): PKK terrorists block a road and stop a bus carrying plainclothes soldiers. 33 unarmed soldiers martyred



- Van - Sunduz Massacre (June 18, 1993): 24 people killed, including 14 children



- Bursa - Ulu Mosque Attack (April 27, 2016): One person dies, 13 injured in suicide bomb attack



*Anadolu Agency correspondent Sibel Ugurlu contributed to this report from Ankara. -