Three police officers, Islamic militant killed in shootout in southeast Turkey

AP ^ | 7/5/2002 | N/A

[a_Turk]

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Three police officers and an Islamic militant were killed Friday in a shootout in the southeastern Turkish city of Elazig, a local news agency reported.

Police early Friday raided an apartment in Elazig that they believe was used as a base by the Islamic militant group, Hezbollah. Two police officers were killed when shooting erupted between the police and a Hezbollah militant who was in the apartment. A third police officer was injured during the shootout and was taken to a local hospital where he died of his injuries, according to the Anatolia news agency.

The militant was killed, while police detained the man's wife and three children, Anatolia said. There were no reports of other militants inside the building. Police found weapons and explosives in the apartment, Anatolia said.

Elazig is some 750 kilometers (470 miles) east of the capital Ankara.

Police suspect that the killed Hezbollah militant is linked to last year's assassination of Gaffar Okkan, former police chief of Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast. Okkan had launched a crackdown on Islamic fundamentalist groups in the region.

Prosecutors have charged seven alleged Hezbollah members with the January 2001 slaying of Okkan and five other policemen.

Hezbollah, which is not linked to the Lebanon-based guerrilla group of the same name, aims to topple Turkey's secular regime and replace it with Islamic rule. It is suspected in scores of killings throughout Turkey.

Turkish authorities have been cracking down on the group recently, arresting hundreds of suspected members. Police also unearthed some 60 bodies of the group's suspected victims buried in fields and basements.

[a_Turk]

Ping..

[Tailback]

That's bad news for those police officers, I'm guessing that Turkish police aren't used to getting shot at. It's good to hear you guys are cracking down on militants though. Was this guy a Kurd or some other nationality?

[Restorer]

Was this guy a Kurd or some other nationality?

I think the official Turkish position is that there are no Kurds in Turkey, or at least that the Kurds do not constitute a nationality. Most of the historical arguments against Palestinians forming a nation also apply to the Kurds.

[a_Turk]

Was this guy a Kurd or some other nationality?

lol! We recognize only one nationality within our borders, just like the US.. All that's said is that he was a citizen working for the Hezbollah.. Suspected triggerman in the assasination of the police chief.

[a_Turk]

or at least that the Kurds do not constitute a nationality

Our constitution is not designed to support an empire of nationalities. Ethnic origins, color, etc. are irrelevant. Simply not addressed..

[VOA]

Three police officers, Islamic militant killed in shootout in southeast Turkey

The general population in the USA just don't hear enough about how a number of Muslim-majority
countries are struggling (and sacrificing) in combating the radical Islamists.

A few months ago, NBC DateLine had an hour-long show about a group of four US mountain-climbers
that were caught up in this struggle while trekking in one of the former parts of
the USSR (Kyrgyzstan, IIRC). They and one of the Kyrgyzstani soldiers were kidnapped
by rebels sympathetic to Osama bin Laden.

The Kyrgyzstani soldier did all he could to help save the US mountaineers, but eventually
the captors killed him.
To make a long story short, the US mountaineers had to push their sole bodyguard off a mountain path
(found out later the bodyguard survived) and the mountaineers made their escape to the safety of a government encampment.

IIRC, the Kyrgystani soldier was an observant Muslim; two of the mountaineers have returned to
give thanks to his family.

I'm not a pansy politically-correct guy, but it is important to try to make
distinction between friend and foe when possible.

[a_Turk]

it is important to try to make distinction between friend and foe when possible.

ignorance is bliss /sarc

[swarthyguy]

Too bad about the cops. Shows the fanaticism, though, with his wife and two kids in the apartment, the jihadi starts a shootout. If the police kill his family, it becomes an international incident. Commendable restraint on the police's part in not doing so.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thank you, Turkey, for going after these goons. Sorry for the loss of life there in the effort.

[a_Turk]

Hey, they're a threat to us same as they are a threat to you. I guess we can thank each other for going after these goons :)

The upside is that in Turkey as in Turkey, the vast majority can see the potential of a free market economy.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Very true. Hopefully all countries who are on board fighting these slimey terrorists understand this and more will soon. But, the great thing is, Turkey has understood it from the beginning!

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[a_Turk]

Ooops, that should have been "In Turkey as in the USA.."

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Got it!

[McGavin999]

God bless those policemen and may God comfort their families. It would seem that the battle has been joined and there will be no end until the last terrorist is dead.

[timestax]

bump

[Mortimer Snavely]

"We recognize only one nationality within our borders, just like the US..."

Bring this up with Euro-weenies and the like and they'll just accuse you of being a stickler for details.

[WaterDragon]

Dear God. Those maniacs will never stop til they are all dead. Vicious!

[steamroller]

It's a good thing Ataturk came to power.He saved Turkey from potential ruin.And even decades after his passing he still inspires the fight against the Islamists.