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Europe

Seven dead in Turkish explosion

2006-09-13

A bomb blast has killed seven people and injured at least 10 in southeastern Turkey, according to Turkish TV station CNN-Turk. Five children were among the dead, according to the Turkish station NTV news. A hospital made an appeal for blood donations after the injured were brought in to be treated. Some of the casualties were in serious condition and were being operated on, officials at the hospital said on Tuesday. The cause of the explosion which occurred near a park in the city of Diyarbakir, the Kurdish capital of the southeast, was not immediately known. An official from the local governor's office said the authorities were investigating the possibility that it could have been a bomb left in a package. Turkey has been plagued by a spate of bombings in recent weeks, which have killed a total of 12 people and wounded dozens, including 10 British tourists. The Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), the rebel group which claimed the previous attacks in late August, has threatened to turn Turkey into "hell".

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Turkey ‘covers up bombings’ to protect tourist industry

2006-07-02

TURKISH officials have been accused of covering up a terrorist bombing campaign in an attempt to safeguard the country’s lucrative tourist industry. An explosion that killed four people and injured 28 last Sunday in a popular restaurant at a waterfall at Manavgat, about 60 miles east of the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, was blamed by Fikret Dayioglu, the local governor, on a faulty gas cylinder. But he produced no evidence and could not explain why most of the casualties occurred away from the kitchen area. Vatan, a leading Turkish daily, later reported that security cameras had captured footage of a three-strong terrorist cell placing a bomb in a bin 20 minutes before the blast. The report was denied by local officials but responsibility for the explosion was admitted by the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), a group controlled by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK).

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Europe

For those who missed it - Kurdish separatists claim Istanbul airport blaze

2006-05-25

A Kurdish separatist group has claimed responsibility for a fire that swept through a cargo area at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Wednesday afternoon local time. Officials had said the blaze - which injured three people, caused extensive damage and delayed flights - was probably caused by an electrical fault. Officials did not mention the possibility of foul play, but the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility, according to the Europe-based Firat news agency, which is the group's mouthpiece. TAK said it was an "act of sabotage" to protest against Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish minority. There was no way of independently confirming the claim. Istanbul governor Muammer Guler told Turkish television that the blaze may have been caused by an electrical fault. "There has been no loss of life, but we have suffered large-scale material damage," he said.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Major fire at Istambul airport; TAK claims responsibility

2006-05-24

Fire swept through a cargo area at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Wednesday, injuring three people, causing extensive damage and delaying some flights. Officials said the blaze was probably sparked by an electrical fault but a shadowy Kurdish separatist group later claimed responsibility, saying it was an "act of sabotage" to protest against Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish minority. Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene, where plumes of black smoke billowed from the airport which serves Turkey's largest city. Planes normally used for water bombing forest fires swooped down to douse the flames. "People panicked when they saw the huge smoke. It was a close shave because it was so near to the international passenger terminal," Mustafa Alpa, a tour guide at the airport, told Reuters. The cargo area is about a kilometre (half mile) from the passenger terminals at Turkey's largest and busiest airport. Rescue workers carried away airport employees overcome by smoke. Some people fainted, eyewitnesses said. General director of state airport authority, Mahmut Tekin, said the fire had been brought under control and that "there is no problem with air traffic but some flights are delayed". ELECTRICAL FAULT Istanbul governor Muammer Guler told Turkish television that the blaze may have been caused by an electrical fault. "There has been no loss of life, but we have suffered large-scale material damage," he said. Officials did not mention the possibility of foul play, but a group called the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility, according to the Europe-based Firat news agency which is the group's mouthpiece. There was no way of independently confirming the claim. TAK, which has links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) battling security forces in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on security and civilian targets in Istanbul and other Turkish cities. Istanbul Deputy Governor Fikret Kasapoglu told Turkish NTV television news channel that three people had been hurt in the blaze and had been taken to hospital. The fire broke out around 3:30 pm (1230 GMT) in the cargo section of Terminal C, which is used by smaller airlines, mostly from the former Soviet bloc. Turkish television said the electricity network had been affected and that passengers were being checked in manually.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Istanbul blast wounds 31

2006-04-16

A bomb explosion on a busy pedestrian street on the outskirts of Istanbul wounded 31 people on Sunday, police said, in the latest violence to strike Turkey in recent weeks. Istanbul's police chief Celalettin Cerrah said two civilians were in critical condition and had been rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. He told reporters at the scene two plainclothed policemen, patrolling the area, were also injured from broken glass. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Istanbul -- a popular tourism destination -- has been struck by a series of bombings in recent weeks amid the worst street riots in more than a decade in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, which left 16 dead. Scores of soldiers and rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have also been killed in separate clashes. The bomb had been placed in a garbage bin in front of shops, cafes and kiosks in the busiest part of the pedestrian street in the Bakirkoy district on the European side of Turkey's largest city and near the airport. The blast blew out windows of stores in the street. The pedestrian street was closed off and forensic experts were examining the area. Police fired into the air to disperse angry residents who initially thought a person taken in by the police was a bomber. Police said the person was a witness. The Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), a shadowy group which has ties to the PKK, has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly bomb blasts in Istanbul. TAK, formed by former PKK guerrillas, has warned of further attacks. Militant groups, including Kurdish separatists, Islamists and ultra-leftists, have carried out attacks on civilians, security and military targets in Turkey in the past. Security has been stepped up across the country, which is seeking European Union membership. The armed forces have also moved a large number of troops to areas near the border with Iraq ahead of an expected spring offensive against PKK rebels.

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Europe

Kurdish Group Claims Bloody Explosion at Turk Resort

2005-05-02

A Kurdish separatist group yesterday claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in a western Turkish resort town that killed a police officer, a news agency known to have close links with the group reported. A spokesman for the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), a group known to carry out urban attacks for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was quoted as telling the Europe-based Mezopotamya News Agency that the TAK was behind the bomb blast in Kusadasi on Saturday. In that case, hunt them down and kill them. Four policemen were wounded in the explosion that occurred when they investigated a suspicious package next to a statue of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the town center. Police were setting up a security cordon after a report of the package in front of the statue when the explosion happened. The spokesman also said the group was behind two incidents last week in Istanbul where police defused bombs placed under a bridge and at a municipal bus park. The spokesman said the organization was planning urban attacks and warned the "Western tourists to stay away from Turkey".

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Europe

Turkey Pins Blame for Istanbul Blasts on PKK

2004-08-12

The Turkish government pinned the blame for deadly Istanbul bomb attacks squarely on Kurdish separatists on Wednesday, dismissing a rival claim of responsibility by a group aligning itself with al Qaeda. "We dunnit!" "You did not! You wudn't even there!" But a senior police official said investigators had not ruled out an al Qaeda link to Tuesday's attacks, which killed two people and injured 11, and diplomats said the involvement of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas was not yet proved. "It coulda been them!" "B'lieve me, it wudn't them!" Newspapers quoted Turkish officials as saying the PKK, which recently called off a unilateral cease-fire, was behind the explosions at two small hotels and a gas depot in Turkey's economic capital. A Turk and an Iranian were killed and several foreign tourists were among the wounded. "The people who did this are linked to the PKK militants who were seized two days ago by the Istanbul Security Directorate," the Star daily quoted Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu as saying, referring to a recent crackdown on the organization. Police declined to comment on reports that some arrests had been made in connection with the bomb attacks. "An' see? It wudn't them we arrested!" "Well, who did you arrest?" "We ain't sayin'!" "Then it coulda been them." Two groups have claimed they carried out the bombings, at the height of Turkey's economically vital tourist season. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which links itself to al Qaeda and has repeatedly claimed responsibility for attacks including the Madrid train bombings and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, said on an Islamist Web site it was behind the bombs and warned of more to come. A previously unknown group calling itself the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks also claimed responsibility on a small local news agency that often carries PKK statements. It said it was retaliating for Turkish operations against Kurdish guerrillas. "It wuz us, see?" "Oh, shuddup! It wudn't youse!" The Islamist claim evoked memories of four massive suicide bomb attacks that killed more than 60 people in Istanbul in November, carried out by a Turkish group linked to al Qaeda. But the Abu Hafs group has not been officially linked to any of the attacks it has claimed, and officials quoted in the Turkish media said the bombings bore the hallmark of the PKK. Violence has recently flared again in the southeast after a lull of several years following the jailing of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds.

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