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Turkey blames Kurds for fatal army helicopter crash

ANKARA, Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey's army command Friday blamed Kurdish separatist rebels for the crash of a military helicopter in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast which killed one soldier and injured five others.

A high command statement quoted by Anatolia news agency said the helicopter had landed Thursday in the mountainous province of Bingol during an operation against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

While taking off again it was knocked off balance by an explosion set off by rebels by remote control and crashed, the military claimed.

The Turkish army maintains a strong presence in the southeast, where it has been fighting a Kurdish insurgency for self-rule for the past 22 years that has killed more than 37,000 people.

The PKK declared a unilateral truce on October 1 which Ankara rejected, but the level of violence has diminished since then.