Europe

Europe

Turkey to compensate families of 35 Kurds mistakenly killed in airstrike

03 January 2012 10:33 (UTC +04:00)

The airstrikes, guided by intelligence from drones and fired by Turkish F-16 jets, hit a group of Kurdish smugglers in northern Iraq last week. The loss of life was one of the highest single-day civilian death tolls in Turkey’s decades-old conflict with the rebels.

The incident set off violent protests in mostly Kurdish cities and further undermined Turkey’s attempts to address the grievances of the Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of its 74 million people and some of whom want autonomy in the southeast region where they dominate.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc did not specify late Monday how much money will be paid to the families of the victims, but said the payments would come within days. He also said the government was exploring ways to increase the amount of the compensation.

Arinc noted that an investigation into the botched airstrike is underway. But he added that artillery units fired warning shots ahead of the airstrikes but the civilians did not stop. The area was illuminated, he said.

"The occurrence of the incident was in no way intentional," Arinc said.