Kurdish rebels warn of "hell" after Turkey blasts http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-29T142916Z_01_L29922136_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-TURKEY-EXPLOSIONS.xml&archived=False
Tue Aug 29, 2006
By Thomas Grove
ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - A shadowy Kurdish rebel group threatened on Tuesday to turn Turkey "into hell" after their two-day bombing spree killed three people and wounded dozens at popular tourist resorts.
The Kurdish Liberation Hawks (TAK) said it bombed a busy shopping area in the coastal resort Antalya on Monday, killing three people and wounding dozens, including European and Middle Eastern tourists.
The blast followed four bombs on the Mediterranean resort of Marmaris and in Istanbul that wounded 27 people.
"We vow to turn the monstrous TC (Turkish Republic) into hell ... with our warriors who have pledged revenge," TAK said in a statement on its Web site. It was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity. Police have declined to comment on the group.
TAK, a separatist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has warned tourists to stay out of European Union-aspirant Turkey. Security has been stepped up at key tourist destinations, and although no major cancellations to Turkey have been reported some tourists have raised concerns.
Police have launched a hunt for two people suspected of planting the bomb in Antalya, Milliyet newspaper said on Tuesday, although police did not confirm the report.
The government has remained silent on the attacks. Eleven people were still being treated in hospital for their injuries, police spokesman Akif Aktug told Reuters. None of them were in a critical condition.
Police detained a PKK suspect in the western port city of Izmir on Monday and TV footage showed him being led away by police and plastic explosives found in his possession.
TARGETS TOURISTS
TAK has claimed a series of attacks over the last year in tourist resorts and cities across the country. PKK guerrillas carry out attacks mainly against soldiers in the mountains of southeast Turkey from their bases in northern Iraq.
Tourism is worth an annual $18 billion to Turkey and has already been hit in 2006 by other bombings and a bird flu outbreak.
"I'm not comfortable with the idea that this kind of thing happens ... and I will be a lot more alert," said Can Set, 24, a lawyer from Amsterdam on holiday in Turkey.
The Monday afternoon blast outside a building in the touristic heart of Antalya shattered windows, sent shrapnel flying into people and sparked a fire at a shopping area.
It came less than 24 hours after three bombs in Marmaris wounded 21 people, including 10 Britons, and a device in Istanbul wounded six passers-by.
Security analysts say TAK was set up by former PKK guerrillas dissatisfied with the group's tactics. The Firat News Agency said on Tuesday that the PKK condemned the bombings.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the separatist conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating a homeland in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured and convicted for his role in the conflict in 1999 and is currently imprisoned alone on an island south of Istanbul. TAK statements describe Ocalan as their leader.
The United States, the EU and Turkey consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
"The U.S. Embassy condemns the recent terrorist bombings ... We once again call on the PKK to unconditionally cease its terrorist actions," the embassy said in a statement.
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