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Thursday, July 14, 2005

Turks Hunt for Soldier Seized by Kurds

"Turks Hunt for Soldier Seized by Kurds
By Amberin Zaman, Special to The Times

ANKARA, Turkey — More than 1,000 Turkish troops backed by helicopter gunships kept up their search Wednesday for a soldier kidnapped by separatist Kurdish rebels in the rugged mountains of eastern Turkey, as violence spiraled in the predominantly Kurdish region.

As the troops combed the mountains of Tunceli province for Pvt. Coskun Kirandi, who was seized Monday, a spokesman for the rebel group known as the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, declared that the soldier would be treated as 'a prisoner of war.'"

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