Two arrested in probe into killing of three Turkish soldiers

Two of three suspects detained over the killing of three off-duty soldiers in the eastern province of Hakkari have been arrested.

The suspects were captured by police on Oct. 27 as a part of the operation launched after the death of the soldiers and were sent to a court in the Yüksekova district after being questioned.

The court arrested two suspects, identified only as E.A. and K.T., while the other suspect, identified as O.C., has been released pending trial.

K.T., who is accused of being the shooter in the attack, was also charged with injuring another soldier last July.

Three soldiers, Ramazan Gülle, Ramazan Köse and Yunus Yılmaz, were killed in a gun attack by masked assailants in the middle of the afternoon on Oct. 25 while walking in Yüksekova.

Turkey’s General Staff has released a fresh statement blaming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the incident, after the PKK denied responsibility.

On Oct. 23, three members of the PKK were killed by security forces in the eastern province of Kars. Clashes erupted after four militants reportedly attacked a hydroelectric power station in the Kağızman district, raising suggestions that the killing of the three soldiers might be a retaliatory attack.