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Owner of bombed bookstore arrested in east
Turkey
21.6.2006
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, June 21 (Reuters) - Turkish
authorities have arrested the Kurdish owner of a
bombed bookstore, just one day after two
paramilitary police were jailed for last year's
blast, officials said on Wednesday.
Seferi Yilmaz was charged with belonging to the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), blamed by
Ankara for the deaths of more than 30,000 people
since the group launched its armed campaign for an
independent Kurdish homeland in 1984.
The officials said Yilmaz was taken to jail in the
eastern city of Van on Tuesday under heavy guard and
in handcuffs after being interrogated by a state
prosecutor.
On Monday, two non-commissioned officers in the
paramilitary gendarmerie were sentenced to nearly 40
years each for the bombing of the bookstore, in
which one person was killed.
The two men deny any wrongdoing and have appealed
against their sentence.
The blast at the shop in the town of Semdinli last
November sparked riots in the troubled eastern
region and a parliamentary inquiry after critics
said the security forces may have orchestrated the
attack.
The case has focused attention on Turkey's so-called
"deep state" -- code for ultra-nationalist elements
in the security forces, the army and the state
bureaucracy who are prepared to take the law into
their own hands on occasion.
The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join,
has taken a close interest in the case. It has
criticised the sacking in April of a public
prosecutor who accused a top general of setting up
an illegal group that carried out the bombing.
The prosecutor said the general was trying to foment
unrest to justify a military crackdown and derail
Turkey's EU bid.
Turkey's powerful military has denied the
allegations.
Reuters
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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