UN office urges Turkey to probe 2,000 reported killings
GENEVA — The Turkish government should investigate hundreds of alleged killings and other rights abuses in Turkey’s southeast, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday, releasing a report on an upsurge in violence there over 18 months.
Based on “remote monitoring,” the report says that around 2,000 people, including 1,200 local residents and 800 security forces, were reportedly killed during the security sweep between July 2015 and December 2016.
Turkey’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The crackdown comes as Turkey has faced many destabilizing factors in recent years, including deadly extremist attacks, a failed coup and an influx of refugees from Syria. Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters — some allegedly linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK rebel group — have been making inroads in a fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.