Delay in ops caused slow progress in Nusaybin, officials claim

Operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Mardin's Nusaybin district are progressing slower than expected because the local governor's office disallowed operation requests in September 2015, delaying the necessary response to a PKK build-up, security officials have said. 

Security units, led by the special operations police, had made six requests to the Mardin Governor's Office to conduct anti-terror operations in September 2015, but all their appeals were denied, security sources told daily Hürriyet. 

"If these permissions had been granted, [operations in] Nusaybin would not last as long," sources said, claiming the concrete barricades and large trenches constructed by the PKK were prepared during that period of inaction. 

"The organization [PKK] is well-settled in the region because no operations were conducted," sources said. Hürriyet could not confirm these allegations, as Mardin Gov. Ömer Faruk Koçak, who was appointed to his post in February 2015, was unavailable to comment. 

However, reports claimed the allegations of inaction were also discussed during a meeting between Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu and the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) deputies from the region, as Orhan Miro?lu, an AKP deputy from Mardin, had reportedly complained of a PKK build-up in Nusaybin. 

Miro?lu allegedly informed Davuto?lu the PKK was easily able to dig trenches, construct concrete barricades and gather militants from both around the region and the Kandil Mountains, where the outlawed organization is based, to Nusaybin. 

According to reports, the primary struggle of security personnel in the region is removing the concrete barricades, which prevent their...