Originally published on September 26, 2013
Eighteen Kurdish militants escaped overnight from a prison in southeast Turkey only to be recaptured hours later on Wednesday.
The prisoners escaped through a tunnel they dug out which was between 70 and 80 meters long. It is believed it was constructed over the course of a year and that the prisoners mixed the dirt excavated with water to flush the evidence away down the toilets, according to a report by the Hurriyet Daily News.
All but one of the prisoners was captured by security forces a few hours after the escape near the village of Ortacanak, about 16 kilometers from the prison in Bingol. The 18th prisoner was eventually caught later that morning. The prisoners were found unarmed and no injuries were reported among either the escapees or security forces.
The 18 runaways were all linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK, which is an illegal group considered to be a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, Reuters reported.
The PKK is calling for Kurdish autonomy is southeastern Turkey, and more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurdish, have died in armed battle for the cause, according to Reuters.
The prison escape and subsequent recapture comes less than a week before Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is due to present a so-called democratization program that would to ease restrictions on Kurdish cultural and political rights, Reuters said. There is hope that these changes may encourage a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict.
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