The Turkish Ministry of National Defence reported that 19 soldiers were initially affected by the gas during the operation aimed at retrieving the body of a comrade killed by gunfire in May 2022. Following the exposure, immediate medical intervention was provided, but sadly, a dozen soldiers succumbed to their injuries by Monday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy, offering condolences to the grieving families and the Turkish Armed Forces. Methane itself is generally non-toxic, but in confined spaces, it can cause suffocation, raising questions about how such high concentrations of the gas permeated the cave.
A ceremonial farewell was conducted at an airport in Hakkari, attended by high-ranking military officials, to honor the fallen soldiers before their bodies were sent to their hometowns for burial.
The soldiers were engaged in the ongoing "Operation Claw Lock," a military initiative targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been involved in a decades-long insurgency. This complex conflict, fueled by historical tensions over Kurdish rights, has claimed over 40,000 lives since its inception in the 1980s.
Despite a recent ceasefire declaration by the PKK earlier this year and their intention to disband, incidents like these inject further uncertainty into the peace process.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy, offering condolences to the grieving families and the Turkish Armed Forces. Methane itself is generally non-toxic, but in confined spaces, it can cause suffocation, raising questions about how such high concentrations of the gas permeated the cave.
A ceremonial farewell was conducted at an airport in Hakkari, attended by high-ranking military officials, to honor the fallen soldiers before their bodies were sent to their hometowns for burial.
The soldiers were engaged in the ongoing "Operation Claw Lock," a military initiative targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been involved in a decades-long insurgency. This complex conflict, fueled by historical tensions over Kurdish rights, has claimed over 40,000 lives since its inception in the 1980s.
Despite a recent ceasefire declaration by the PKK earlier this year and their intention to disband, incidents like these inject further uncertainty into the peace process.
