Five detained in Kayseri bombing investigation

ISTANBUL

Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin visits the police station, where the bombing took place in Kayseri’s Pınarbaşı district, killing one officer and two militants. AA photo

Five suspects have been detained in connection with a suicide car bomb attack in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri that killed one policeman and two attackers on May 25, Turkish Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin has said.

“We have seized the suspects. Their foreign links have been revealed,” Şahin was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.

Şahin, who visited hospitals in Kayseri where the wounded are receiving treatment, said those injured were in good condition.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying the attack was in revenge “for the political and armed attacks targeting the Kurdish people,” according to a statement by the group’s armed branch that was published by Fırat news agency, which often carries announcements from the group.

The PKK also said their intended target was Kayseri, denying earlier claims that the target was Ankara.

International links

Some have claimed that the bombs were smuggled into Turkey through Syria in four packages before being brought to the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, daily Milliyet reported yesterday. The bombs were then placed in a car that headed for Kayseri.

Police have revealed pictures of the bombers, identified as Cengiz Özek and Ramazan Yıldız, as they were driving the car.

 The bomb exploded outside a police station in Kayseri’s Pınarbaşı district, killing one policeman and two militants. Some 17 others were wounded in the explosion. On May 26, 11 of them were discharged from hospital.

The funeral ceremony of the fallen police officer, Ahmet Geben, was held in his hometown of Kahramanmaraş on May 26.

Meanwhile, explosions occurred in three different locations in the southeastern province of Şırnak on the night of May 26, Doğan news agency reported.

The blasts hit three different spots in the town of Cizre and were all reportedly caused by sound bombs. The bombs targeted a military post, a gas station while a police vehicle was at the pumps and the town courthouse.

There were no fatalities but one person was wounded, according to reports.

Meanwhile, 10 people who were abducted by suspected members of the PKK in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s Lice district were released early yesterday.

The villagers were brought to the gendarmerie, where it was reported that they wanted to remain silent about the incident, Doğan news agency said.