Karayılan calls on PKK's HPG to escalate clashes

A senior figure of the PKK's armed-People's Defense Forces (HPG) Tuesday called for escalation of the armed conflict with security forces that continues in Turkey's southeast. Speaking to the PKK-linked Fırat News Agency, Murat Karayılan said that the HPG should support the fight launched by the PKK's Civil Protection Units (YPS) by providing reinforcements to militants from the mountains and rural areas to "spell them at this resistance."

"The HPG must forge solidarity with resistance in the cities by stepping in from the mountains where it actually operates," Karayılan said.

He said that the start of Spring has ushered in the start of a historic process in which the terrorist organization has "great opportunities," saying: "Entering an operational process in accordance with this period is necessary now. The important point here is that our friends are well-prepared for this process."

Regarding the latest attack on the Mermer gendarmerie outpost located in the Lice district of southeastern Diyarbakır province, he also described it as "a successful first step."

The PKK targeted the outpost on Thursday with a car bomb, killing three soldiers and wounding 24 others, the General Staff said in a statement last Friday. Similar statements from PKK leaders have also threatened Turkey with attacks.

On Feb. 22, Senior PKK leader Duran Kalkan threatened the Turkish state and asserted that the number of bombings would be "a thousand, not just one," in the near future. Referring to March as "the process of a big resistance," Kalkan said this Spring would belong to the Kurds.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Bingöl deputy, Hişyar Özsoy, also emphasized that Spring is prime time for the PKK as it prepares to hit with full power. "Everyone is preparing for Spring," he said.

The Democratic Regions' Party (DBP) mayor for Ağrı, Sırrı Sakık, also foreboded a bloody Spring in remarks he made on Feb. 15 prior to the two Ankara attacks, saying, "We see that great dangers await these lands in the Spring."

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU, broke a two-and-a-half year ceasefire agreement with the Turkish state in July 2015 and resumed its armed campaign targeting civilians as well. The PKK has lost an estimated 4,000 militants since the conflict began.