Turkish military deny killing civilians in N. Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish General Staff released a press statement on Friday, August 26, to refute claims that it killed seven civilians during the bombing campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, on August 21, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

Pro-PKK RojTV had claimed last week that Turkish military had struck a civilian vehicle during its bombing of PKK hideouts in Qandil mountain and killed seven civilians traveling in the vehicle.

Turkish military personnel examined the footage broadcasted by RojTV and said that the damage seen in the footage could not have been caused by the ordnance used by the military.

The statement said the destroyed vehicle was "very" far away from the area targeted by Turkish warplanes to begin with, and added that the bombs used by the airforce would have inflicted much heavier damage to the vehicle and its immediate surroundings, had it been hit by one.

"The bombs dropped by Turkish warplanes had high destructive capacities. The footage broadcasted by RojTV shows a destroyed car with no damage neither to the road it was on, nor to the median wall on the side. Had it been hit by one of our bombs, the vehicle would have been destroyed, along with severe damage to the road and the median. Therefore, claims that this vehicle was hit by Turkish warplanes are unfounded."