Turkey's new Chief of Staff Necdet Ozel was recorded commanding an operation near Ballýkaya (Bilika) village where 20 PKK guerrillas were killed with chemical weapons in 1999 following a clash where the Turkish army suffered tens of losses.

The video of the operation with chemical weapons had been leaked by a soldier.



While the video broadcast on Roj Tv records an intense bombardment on a cave close to the Bilika village, a high-ranking military officer, standing by the corpses lined in front of the cave after the bombardment, admits the use of chemical weapons with the following statements;

"This is a warrior from Kangal district of Sivas. And this one was from Syria. There are six women down there who are at the moment facing the danger of poisoning due to the hand grenades thrown by our soldiers. However, they are still entering the cave in a monstrous and heroic way. They have started to take the bodies out of the cave where there are seven women more and a total of 13 bodies.”

The video shows that the operation is commanded by Necdet Ozel who is currently the vice Chief of General Staff and is expected to be the new Military Chief in the coming period. (F.D.)