Sazak assault

Sazak assault
Part of Kurdish–Turkish conflict
Date 1997[1] Location Reşadiye, Tokat Province, Turkey Result Ambush successful, insurgents manage to escape
Belligerents
Turkey	PKK[1] DHKP/C[1] TKP-ML[1]
Casualties and losses
4 killed	0

The Sazak assault was an ambush carried out in 1997, in the Sazak neighbourhood of Reşadiye, in Turkey's Tokat Province. Four Turkish soldiers were killed in the ambush and although no group immediately claimed responsibility, the attack was later revealed to have been a joint operation by three Communist guerrilla groups: the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Turkish Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front and Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist.^[1]

The soldiers were returning to their outpost after a patrol and had only 1.3 kilometers left to travel when they were ambushed by a joint force of Kurdish PKK and Turkish DHKP/C and TKP-ML insurgents. Four soldiers were killed in the ambush and due to the heavy fog, all insurgents managed to escape.^[2]

That same year period the PKK and DHKP/C were also involved in a joint attack on a local flour factory in Tokat, which killed 3 Turkish officials.^[3] Twelve years later, a similar attack was carried out in the same area, which left 7 soldiers dead^[1] and 3 injured.^[4]

See also

• Reşadiye shooting

References

1. Today's Zaman Tension high as heinous attack leaves unanswered questions behind
2. Gov’t poised to finalize reform package despite provocations
3. Turkish Press Review, 97-07-09
4. Hürriyet Between hearts and minds