Following a suicide bombing in the south-eastern town of Suruç that killed 32 people , the government authorised airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as well as the Kurdistan Workers ' Party ( PKK ) . The government had been involved in ceasefire negotiations with the PKK since late 2012 , with the airstrikes causing the negotiations , known as the solution process , to break down . The abandoning of both the solution process with the Kurdish rebels and the policy of inaction against ISIL by the Turkish government led to a resumption of violence in the south-east , with PKK militants resuming attacks on Turkish military and police positions . Over 90 military or police personnel had been killed by 6 September 2015 , raising concerns about whether peaceful elections could be held in the region . The pro-Kurdish Peoples ' Democratic Party ( HDP ) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş claimed that the conditions in the south-east were not adequate to hold peaceful elections , with party officials investigating the region having returned with negative reports . In early September , three Republican People 's Party ( CHP ) MPs visited Van , Hakkâri and the district of Yüksekova . Their report , which contained accounts from the Governor of Hakkâri and the Kaymakam of Yüksekova , stated that the HDP-run municipalities in the region were openly recruiting militants for the PKK and consulting them before taking decisions . The report also documented cases of PKK youth wing ( YDG-H ) members attempting to militarise the region , smuggling to finance their operations and forcing individuals to conduct PKK propaganda
suicide bombing
2015 Suruç bombing
November 2015 Turkish general election