Part of the Kurdish Initiative?

From Hurriyet Daily News:

The Interior Ministry may lawfully collect the monetary damages paid to fallen soldiers or their relatives from the families of dead terrorists under a recent court decision, CNNTürk reported on its website Friday.

According to the court’s ruling, the parents of a militant who is claimed to be a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, will pay damages to the Interior Ministry amounting to slightly more than 40,000 Turkish Liras.

The move follows calls to hold militants’ relatives accountable for the compensation paid by the ministry to the family of a soldier killed in a terrorist attack in the eastern province of Batman in 2006. “It is an injustice to hold us responsible; our child was of age,” the parents of one alleged militant said.

Police officer Erkan Serdar Salar and three alleged PKK militants, including Nebihe Altun and Mesut Erbey, all died in the armed battle. The Interior Ministry paid damages to the officer’s family, as is its practice.

Claiming that the ministry is losing money due to this practice, the Interior Ministry recently filed an unprecedented lawsuit against two of the PKK militants’ parents, ordering them to reimburse the government for the damages. Such a measure is technically against the law since the militant was of age and his parents were no longer his legal guardians.