DHKP-C Marxist group claims US embassy suicide attack in Ankara

Feb 2, 2013

Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday.

DHKP-C said the “act of self-sacrifice” had targeted the US, which the group called “murderer of the people of the world”.

The bomber and a guard were killed in the attack at a side entrance of the heavily guarded compound.

The US has warned its citizens not to visit diplomatic missions in Turkey until further notice.

In an online statement the DHKP-C said: “Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on 1 February 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the people of the world.”

Turkey and the US have denounced the incident as terrorism.

A number of illegal groups ranging from Kurdish separatists to leftist and Islamist militants have launched attacks in Turkey in recent years.

Turkish Marxist group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has claimed it carried a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara on Friday

The US state department said a Turkish woman visiting the embassy had been seriously hurt and several staff members had suffered minor injuries.

The DHKP-C is designated a terrorist organization in the US and Europe.

The extreme-left group has been blamed for a number of attacks since the 1970s, including some on US diplomatic missions.

Turkish police carried out a series of raids on suspected members in January.

The embassy building is heavily protected but the US has had long-standing plans to move its compound elsewhere for security reasons.

It was recently reported to be in the final stages of a deal to choose an alternative location.

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Turkey: at least 19 people killed during clashes between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels

Aug 5, 2012

At least 19 people have died in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post, according to local media.

Rebels fired rocket launchers on an army post in Hakkari province just after midnight, NTV in Turkey said.

Turkish military jets are pursuing them and bombing their escape routes, NTV said.

Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq.

At least 19 people have died in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post

According to the governor for Hakkari province, Orhan Alimoglu, six soldiers, two village guards and 11 Kurdish rebels were killed in the attack near the village of Gecimili.

He said 15 soldiers were injured in the incident.

The number of clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces has risen in southeast Turkey over the past year.

A series of clashes in June left dozens dead.

The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US.

It launched a guerrilla campaign in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland in the south-east of Turkey.

It has now dropped its claim to an independent Kurdish state, but says it is fighting for autonomy and the cultural rights of the Kurdish people.