The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) threatens attacks on Turkish cities, tourist sites

(Rudaw) – A PKK-splinter group that has carried out several deadly attacks in Turkey has vowed more “intense” activities and declared Turkey’s cities and tourist sites as its “battlegrounds.”

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) published a statement on Tuesday: “The whole world should know that the [Turkish government] is our enemy.”

Accusing Ankara of massacre of Kurds, torture, displacement, and destruction of historical and residential areas, TAK warned that Turkey is not a safe country for investment or tourism. “All the cities of Turkey… are our battlegrounds and our actions will be much more intense than in the past.”

TAK first appeared on the scene in mid-2004, carrying out small, non-lethal attacks that quickly escalated into targeting and killing civilians and tourists.

They claim Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as their leader but have said they severed ties with that organization as they could no longer accept what they called the “passive struggle methods” of the PKK.

TAK’s stated aim is to oppose Turkey’s repression of the Kurdish minority and to avenge the deaths of Kurds killed by Turkish authorities. They have deliberately targeted the tourism industry in an effort to damage the country economically.

TAK has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks in Turkey in 2016, including a bombing in Ankara in February that killed 29, another in March that killed 37, and one in central Istanbul in December that killed 38.

The government of Turkey considers TAK as an extremist wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but the PKK denies TAK is part of the group, recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey and the EU.