Convoy attack in northern Turkey blamed on PKK
BayBak, Azerbaijan | 744 days ago | Friday, 6th May , 2011 , 01:27 [am] | Azerbaijan
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. | The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was behind the deadly attack Wednesday on the prime minister’s convoy, a local official said Thursday, amid growing concerns about the security of the election slated for June 12.
“A group of five or six terrorists |
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was behind the deadly attack Wednesday on the prime minister’s convoy, a local official said Thursday, amid growing concerns about the security of the election slated for June 12.
“A group of five or six terrorists have claimed responsibility [for the attack] on behalf of the PKK,†Kastamonu Gov. Erdoğan Bektaş told reporters Thursday.
One police officer was killed and another was injured during Wednesday’s assault against a convoy taking top aides to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan back to Ankara after an election rally in the northern province of Kastamonu. Erdoğan was not traveling with the convoy.
Police, backed by gendarmerie forces, have launched a large operation to find the assailants, who fled into the surrounding forest area. Police have arrested 12 people on charges of being PKK members in separate operations in eight different cities.
There has been no confirmation or denial from the PKK of the governor’s statement when the Hürriyet Daily News went to press late Thursday.
“We know that yesterday’s attack was depicted as if it had targeted the prime minister’s convoy. But we believe [the assailants] had no intention [of attacking the prime minister] or information on the convoy,†Bektaş said, adding that the police were the real target of the assault.
The assailants would have acted differently if their intention was to attack Erdoğan, the governor said. “It was just a coincidence. The group located in the forest was waiting for a police car to open fire. And the first police car was the one accompanying the convoy,†he said.
Bektaş’s statement was strengthened by a Police Department warning, distributed to all police units throughout the country two days before the Kastamonu assault, that the PKK and its affiliates were preparing for such attacks. The warning cautioned police to be alert against terrorist attacks targeting security forces. It said the primary targets of the terrorists would be the police.
Interior Minister Osman Güneş meanwhile indirectly criticized the pro-Kurdish Democracy and Peace Party, or BDP, in his address at a ceremony held for the killed policeman in Kastamonu.
“Our people will ruin their dirty scenarios,†Güneş said, adding that those who were always talking about democracy were in fact sending their children to join the PKK.
“This terrorist organization is the one that has been using armed propaganda as a political tool for years. It’s impossible for them to gain a reputation through such propaganda,†Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül told reporters Thursday, referring to the PKK without openly naming the outlawed group.
Intense security for ErdoÄŸan
Following the attack, police intensified security measures, particularly for Erdoğan and other political party leaders. A special team called “CAT†has begun to guard the prime minister in Istanbul during his party meetings and in the neighborhood where he stays.
The number of personal guards for main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was also increased after the attack. Police will increase security measures at party election rallies as well.
In a show of solidarity against terrorism, Kılıçdaroğlu called Erdoğan late Wednesday to express his sorrow about the attack on the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, convoy. Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters Thursday morning that Erdoğan informed him about the police investigation but there was no information yet on who might be behind the attack.
“We want the arrest of the perpetrators. This is a terrorist act. We as the CHP have always been against terror. We should stand united against terror,†Kılıçdaroğlu said, drawing attention to the timing of the assault.
President Abdullah Gül, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin and Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, head Devlet Bahçeli all condemned the attack. The BDP had not issued a statement criticizing the attack when the Daily News went to press late Thursday.
Ria Oomen-Ruijten, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, condemned the convoy attack in a written statement Thursday and called for a peaceful election.
“The election campaign should be able to introduce opportunities for all citizens and political parties to freely and fearlessly express themselves in political discussions,†Oomen-Ruijten said. “I sincerely hope the June 12 elections will be a celebration of democracy in Turkey.â€
She also noted that the European Parliament condemned PKK attacks in its latest Turkey report, which called on Turkey and EU members to increase coordination against terrorism.
One death in Hakkari protest
One person died Thursday during an illegal demonstration in the southeastern province of Hakkari, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Übeydullah Durna, 30, died on a building’s roof on account of a fire started by the protesting group, which was demonstrating on the Yüksekova-Şemdinli highway against anti-PKK operations in the eastern province of Tunceli. Group members attacked police with stones and Molotov cocktails and were met with pressurized water and pepper spray.
Durna was taken to Yüksekova State Hospital but could not be saved by medical intervention. An ongoing investigation has been started to look into the incident.hurriyet
, Voice of a Nation[1] Print
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