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Turkish court detains Kurdish suspect behind deadly
bombing
4.6.2007 |
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June
4, 2007
ANKARA, -- A Turkish court Monday ordered the
detention of a Kurdish militant believed to be
behind a bomb attack in the western city of Izmir
which killed one and injured 15, the Anatolia news
agency reported.
The suspect, identified only by his initials O.Y.
and the codename "Boran", is a member of the banned
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been
fighting a bloody separatist campaign for the past
22 years, the report said.
The May 12 blast, caused by a bomb that was left on
a bicycle, ripped through an open-air market early
in the day as vendors prepared their stalls for
trade in the country's third largest city.
Most of the casualties were traders.
The explosion came one day before more than one
million people gathered in the city, for a mass
rally in support of the country's secular order.
The agency quoted local security sources as saying
that "Boran" and four suspected accomplices were
arrested as they were preparing another attack.
The sources said that police had seized 1.6 kilos
(3.5 pounds) of a plastic explosive regularly used
by the PKK, a home -made bomb weighing 1.3 kilos
(2.9 pounds), bomb-making materials and a manual,
and two firearms.
Two of the alleged accomplices were detained for
supporting a terrorist organisation while the other
two were freed pending their appearance in court.
The PKK, outlawed by Ankara and much of the
international community, took up arms in 1984 for
self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast and
east in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than
37,000 lives.
Other than attacking security forces, Kurdish
militants are also blamed for a string of bomb
attacks nationwide.
A group calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons
(TAK) claimed responsibility for a string of
bombings against civilian targets last year and
threatened to continue hitting the tourism sector,
which attracts millions of holidaymakers every year.
Turkish officials say TAK is a front for PKK attacks
on civilian targets; the PKK claims TAK is a
splinter group over which it has no control.
Turkey also holds the PKK responsible for a suicide
bombing in central Ankara on May 22 that killed
seven people, including the bomber, and wounded 121,
but the rebels have denied any involvement.
AFP
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
region
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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