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Turkish police foil bomb attacks in
tourist city: agency 1.6.2006
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ANKARA, June 1,
2006 (AFP) , - Turkish police seized nearly four
kilograms (nine pounds) of explosives and detained
six suspected Kurdish militants who were allegedly
planning bomb attacks in Izmir, a touristic city on
the Aegean coast, Anatolia news agency reported
Thursday.
Police believe the suspects were planning to
detonate remote-controlled devices on the Kordonboyu,
a central seafront promenade dotted with
restaurants, cafes and shops, the agency said.
Police acted on a tipoff that two people who had
served jail time for aiding the separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) were bringing explosives to
Izmir from the country's mainly Kurdish southeast,
Anatolia reported.
The two were detained at the Izmir bus terminal,
along with two others who had come to meet them.
Their luggage contained 3.5 kilograms of plastic
explosive and six detonators, the agency said.
Police then raided a house in Izmir and detained two
more men, already wanted for suspected links to the
PKK and believed to be the recipients of the cargo,
the agency said.
Another 300 grams of plastic explosives and a
detonator were seized in the house, it said.
A shadowy Kurdish group that calls itself the
Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) has claimed seven
bomb attacsk in urban centers this year and
threatened to target tourist areas.
Turkish officials say TAK is a front for attacks on
civilians of the PKK, considered a terrorist
organization by Turkey, the European Union and the
United States.
The bloodiest attack claimed by TAK so far was the
July 2005 bombing of a minibus in the popular resort
of Kusadasi, near Izmir, in which five people were
killed, among them a British and an Irish tourist.
The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than
37,000 lives since 1984, when the PKK took up arms
for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey: North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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