Happy Holidays

Approx. 200 people died this year in Turkey around the holidays

Just few days before Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan the Islamic holy month of fasting, 45 people were killed and 239 wounded in a gun and bombing attack on the Atatürk international airport in Istanbul on June 28.

This year Turkish authorities declared a nine-day public holiday starting from July 2 and continuing until July 10.

With the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid, thousands of Turks began to travel to their hometowns to spend time with their families. However, there have been over 40 casualties in traffic accidents so far this year.

A total of 77 people were killed while another 201 were injured in traffic accidents across Turkey so far. This are already more dead people then in the triple bomb attack a week before.

Seven people were killed and eight injured when a helicopter carrying Turkish military personnel, their wives and children crashed in the Black Sea region of northeast Turkey on Tuesday, the Turkish armed forces said.

Turkish warplanes bombed PKK terrorist sites in southeastern Sirnak province today, military sources said. There was no immediate information on casualties.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said fighter jets dropped bombs in Sirnak’s Cudi and Guclukonak rural areas between 9.33 a.m. (0633 GMT) and 10.45 a.m. (0745GMT), and destroyed seven targets.

The armed campaign between the government in Ankara and the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU — start again in July 2015. Since then, nearly 600 security personnel have been killed and more than 5,000 Kurds.