Ankara accuses the Kurds of carrying out an armed attack with two dead

Ankara today accused Kurdish fighters of killing two civilians, members of a government aid distribution program to victims of the new coronation.

The illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) launched a “fraudulent attack” against a vehicle carrying several members of a social support group, killing two of them, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

“This heinous attack will not go unanswered,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

An Ozalp city council employee and a civilian were killed in an armed attack on a vehicle passing through the city of Van, the local governor’s office said.

Another municipal staff member is being treated for injuries sustained in the attack.

The officials were members of a government aid program to distribute food to people over 65 and to those who do not have the financial means, amid the pandemic.

“PKK terrorists have again attacked charity and fraternity,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s director of communications Fahrettin Altun said in a tweet.

The Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), accused by the Turkish government of being linked to the PKK, has condemned the latest attack in the eastern province of Van, on the border with Iran.

“We strongly condemn the attack in the Ozalp area in Van,” the party said in a statement. “This attack, which takes place amid the coroner’s pandemic when we need solidarity, can never be accepted,” added the HDP.