Turkey is home to an estimated 12 million Kurds

Turkey is home to an estimated 12 million Kurds. Half of them live in the southeast.

Kurdish rebels had waged a 15-year war for autonomy, in which some 37,000 people were killed. They declared a unilateral cease-fire in 1999 after the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, but ended it after five years on June 1, saying Turkey had not responded in kind.

Rebels intensified attacks in the southeast after calling off the cease-fire, killing more than 20 Turkish soldiers or police. Turkish troops have killed more than 60 rebels in the same period.

Turkish authorities blamed the rebels for bombings earlier this month of two small hotels and a liquefied petroleum gas plant in Istanbul that killed two people and wounded 11 others.

Turkey has ruled out any dialogue with the rebel group, considered a terrorist organization by the UGG Sheepskin. State Department and the European Union, and vowed to maintain its military drive until all rebels surrendered or are killed.