PKK claims deadly attack on police in southeast Turkey

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Thursday claimed a deadly suicide attack on a police station in southeast Turkey that killed six people including two female police officers.

“A major suicide attack was carried out on the police headquarters of the fascist state forces in Midyat town of Mardin (province) by our comrade,” the PKK said in a statement.

It said the six-storey police centre was a place where “any kind of dirty plans … and pressure” were applied to “our people and our values”.

The number of dead from the attack rose to six after a third police officer died, Turkish media reported. The other two officers were both women.

Turkish authorities had earlier blamed the PKK, which is listed as a terror group by Ankara and much of the international community.

The suicide bomber, identified by his guerilla name “Dirok Amed”, fought in the ranks of the PKK, and was from the majority Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, according to the statement.

The attack came a day after a strike against the security forces in the heart of Istanbul claimed 11 lives, including several police officers. There has so far been no claim for that attack.

Violence flared last year between Kurdish rebels and government forces, shattering a 2013 ceasefire reached after secret talks between PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish state.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds. Since then the group has narrowed its demands to greater autonomy and cultural rights.

Source: AFP