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ANKARA, Aug 13 (AFP) - 13h46 - The governor of
the eastern Turkish province of Elazig escaped
injury after his car was damaged by a mine on
Saturday, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The remotely controlled mine shattered the
windscreen of governor Kadir Kocdemir's car and
damaged another vehicle carrying bodyguards in the
town of Alacakaya, the agency said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but
the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the
past has targeted governors in the Anatolian region.
Turkish security forces on Saturday killed a PKK
rebel who was trying to plant a mine on a road used
by military convoys in the far southeastern Hakkari
region, the news agency said, quoting local
authorities.
More than 1.5 kilos of C-4 plastic explosive were
found with the militant's body, authorities said.
Violence has escalated in Turkey's southeast in
recent months since the PKK, considered a terrorist
organisation by the United States and the European
Union, ended its five-year ceasefire in June 2004 on
the grounds that Ankara's concessions to Kurds were
insufficient.
Rebel leaders on Friday cautiously welcomed a pledge
by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
resolve the conflict by democratic means despite
recent attacks.
About 37,000 people died between 1984 and 1999 as
the PKK engaged in a violent armed campaign for
Kurdish autonomy in the country's southeast.
AFP
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