Turkish warplanes killed thirteen suspected militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in the southeast province of Diyarbakir. Government planes also struck PKK targets in the nearby provinces of Siirt and Hakkari and in areas of neighbouring northern Iraq where the PKK has bases. South east Turkey, home to most of the country's 15 million Kurds, has been wracked by violence since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2014 which led to the PKK resuming its armed campaign for greater autonomy. Meanwhile Kurdish militants from a PKK splinter group have claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Istanbul in which eleven people died. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used the violence as a reason for tightening his grip on power - evidence, according to his critics, of authoritarianism. So what does the future now hold for a country once regarded by western powers as a crucial ally? For more analysis Juliette is joined by Professor Mehmet Ugur of Greenwich University, and by Professor John Weeks, Share Radio's regular economics commentator.
