Turkey to pay compensation to families of Kurds killed in air raid

Turkey has pledged to pay financial compensation to families of Kurds accidentally killed last week in air raid by Turkish Air Forces on a predominantly Kurdish-populated area near the border with Iraq. The air raid near the village of Uludere in the southeastern Sirnak province last Wednesday killed 35 Kurds, who are believed to be diesel smuggling peasants. France Presse news agency reported citing Turkish Vice Prime Minister Minister Bulent Arinc as saying that the compensations would be paid out within two days, but the official did not specify the sums. The Turkish military carry out frequent raids against militants of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) movement in Turkey’s Kurdish-populated southeast, as well as across the border with Iraq.