A Turkish soldier was killed today by Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, the latest victim of escalating violence in the region, officials said.
Violence in Turkey's poor southeast has risen since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a separatist campaign since 1984, called off a ceasefire last year.
Four Kurdish rebels and four Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday.
In the latest incident, one gendarme was killed in Diyarbakir's Silvan district in an attack by PKK militants.
The PKK had sought an independent state in the mainly Kurdish southeast, but scaled back its demands to winning cultural rights for the estimated 12 million Kurds in Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership.
The government rejects any talks with the rebel group. The military warned the PKK could step up attacks after a large number of guerrillas were detected smuggling explosives into Turkey from their stronghold in northern Iraq.
Observers have said tensions between Turks and Kurds may intensify after the European Court of Human Rights ruled last week Turkey did not provide jailed PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan with a fair trial in 1999. Turkey may now have to retry Ocalan.