NAN
A mother and her 11-month-old baby were killed in a bombing in south-eastern Turkey which the government has blamed on outlawed Kurdish rebels.
“We will bring the baby killers to account, we will make life unbearable for them, we will have their caves collapse around them,’’ Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Wednesday.
Cavusoglu and other officials used the hashtag #BebekKatiliPkk – or “baby killer PKK,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The bomb went off in the province of Hakkari late Tuesday, state news agency Anadolu reported, saying it hit a car carrying civilians.
“The victims were the wife and child of a Turkish soldier,’’ it added.
The south-eastern province shares borders with Iran and Iraq.
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“The PKK, including its members from the top to the bottom, has been a baby killer since 40 years and is a baby killer today too.
“Everyone, every country, every institution linking arms with the PKK took part in this massacre yesterday and do so today too,’’ Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu added.
The three-decade-old conflict between Turkey and the PKK has killed no fewer than 40,000 people.
In 2015, Turkish President Recep Erdogan declared an end to the peace process with the PKK and the conflict escalated.
Since then, Turkey has targeted the PKK in the predominantly Kurdish south-east and attacked the group’s positions in northern Iraq.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU has also carried out repeated attacks, especially on security forces.