With violence sharply escalating on both sides, the social cost of clashes between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is mounting. The most recent critical threshold crossed was reauthorization of the Turkish military, rather than government-appointed civilian provincial governors, to handle operations.
In an executive order sent to 81 provincial governors last week, the government transferred the authority to determine, plan and execute operations from governors to the military in 13 provinces where clashes are concentrated. The same order authorizes the governors to deploy the army in cities to control street demonstrations.