Istanbul Protests: "Curse the PKK, Curse America"

ISTANBUL - Thousands took to the streets of Istanbul today to protest the deaths of seventeen Turkish soldiers at the hands of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), crying, "Destroy the PKK," and "We are All Turks."
But much of their anger was directed at America: "Close down Incirlik," referring to America's air base in Turkey, "Tell the U.S. to get out now!" and most emphatically, "Curse the PKK, Curse America!"
One group of protesters, organized by the Turkish Youth Organization, demanded that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cut ties with the U.S. government. Young people gathered at a statue of Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's secular founder, and unfurled a banner reading, "Americans Murder Your Darling Mehmet.” (Mehmet is a common male name in Turkey.)

On Istiklal Road, praying for the dead.
Prime Minister Erdogan has assured the U.S. he will not immediately retaliate by invading Northern Iraq. But he is under mounting public pressure to do so, and many here believe America is holding him back from pursuing a more aggressive course. Over the past decade, The Pew Research Center shows U.S. favorability ratings plummeting in Turkey from around 50% into the single digits.
"Turks were always opposed to the Second Iraq War,” Turkish journalist and PostGlobal panelist Soli Ozel explained. “Now, many in Turkey believe the U.S. wants an independent Kurdish state and therefore is at least complicit in partitioning Turkey as well. So far, the U.S. has made many promises but has done nothing against the PKK."