Turkish officials link bombings to rebel Kurds
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - July 28, 2008 The rebel Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK, immediately denied
involvement and attributed Sunday night's attack to "dark
forces," an apparent reference to hardline Turkish nationalists
who allegedly seek to foment chaos in order to strengthen the
political influence of the military.
Nobody has claimed responsibility. Turkey is home to a variety
of militant groups besides the PKK, including Islamic extremists
and alleged coup plotters with ties to the secular establishment.
"I feel deep grief from this cowardly attack that targeted
innocent citizens and I curse them with hatred," said Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit, the military chief. "The fact that the attack was
carried out in a vibrant street at a time when there were crowds
once again shows the savagery, the desperation and the bloody face
of terrorism."
The twin blasts happened on the eve of a Turkish court's
deliberations on whether to ban the Islamic-oriented ruling party
for allegedly trying to undermine secularism, and the timing raised
questions about whether there was a link.
The attack and the legal challenge to the government highlight a
growing mood of uncertainty in Turkey, where an Islamic-oriented
government that won a strong mandate in elections last year is
locked in a power struggle with secular circles in the military and
judiciary.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Istanbul after
canceling a Cabinet meeting in the capital, Ankara. At the bombing
scene, he suggested that Kurdish militants acted in revenge for air
raids on PKK positions in northern Iraq, as well as a cross-border
ground offensive by the Turkish military in February.
"Unfortunately, the costs of this are heavy," Erdogan said.
"The incident last night is one of them."
The prime minister urged Turks not to back political parties
that "support terrorism," an indirect criticism of the Democratic
Society Party, a pro-Kurdish group believed to be heavily
influenced by the PKK.
The United States and the European Union say the PKK, which
seeks autonomy for Kurds, is a terrorist organization.
Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said the rebel group seemed to be
connected to the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in
five years.
"There appears to be a link with the separatist organization,"
Guler said. "We are working on that."
A pro-Kurdish news agency, Firat, reported that a Kurdish rebel
leader denied the PKK was responsible.
"The Kurdish freedom movement has nothing to do with this
event, this cannot be linked to the PKK," Firat quoted the leader,
Zubeyir Aydar, as saying. "We think this attack was carried out by
dark forces. We extend our condolences to the families of the
victims and to the Turkish people."
The bombs went off in the residential neighborhood of Gungoren
in a busy square closed to traffic where people congregate at
night. Authorities said the vast majority of the 17 deaths and 150
injuries occurred when a curious crowd gathered after an initial,
small blast.
Erdogan said 100 of the injured were later released from
hospitals after treatment.
"First, they exploded a percussion bomb to grab attention.
Then, 10 minutes later, in another trash can, they exploded a
fragmentation bomb," said Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici.
The Cihan news agency said the second bomb consisted of a
plastic explosive of the same kind that was used in a suicide
attack in a shopping thoroughfare in Ankara in May 2007 that killed
7 people. That attack was blamed on the PKK.
Five of the dead were children, said Guler, the governor.
Anatolia news agency said one victim was a 12-year-old girl who
rushed with her parents to the balcony of their fourth floor
apartment to see what was going on after the first explosion.
The attack was the country's worst since November 20, 2003, when
al-Qaida linked suicide bombings struck the British consulate and a
British bank, killing at least 30 people. Five days earlier,
suicide truck bombs attacked two Istanbul synagogues, killing 27.
On July 9, gunmen opened fire on police guarding the U.S.
consulate in Istanbul, killing three officers. Three attackers also
died in a shootout with police. Authorities were investigating
whether the gunmen were inspired by al-Qaida.
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Associated Press writers C. Onur Ant in Istanbul and Suzan
Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.