'Turkey not used chemical weapons against PKK terrorists'

The Turkish Armed Forces have never used chemical weapons in their operations against militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz was quoted today by Anadolu agency as saying.

The minister said that the Turkish Armed Forces do not have chemical weapons. They do not even intend to buy them.

The Turkish army resumed military operations against the PKK militants after they became active.

Over 10 months Turkish security forces have rendered harmless 716 PKK militants, including 496 terrorists who were killed, 21 wounded and 44 were arrested and 155 surrendered to the authorities.

During this period, the security forces have held six large scale and 19 local operations against militants.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK requiring creation of an independent Kurdish state, continues for more than 25 years, and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. PKK is recognised as a terrorist organization by the UN and the European Union.


/Trend/