US blacklists operative of outlawed Turkish leftist group DHKP/C

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

The United States on July 24 blacklisted an operative with the outlawed leftist group which claimed the suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy in Ankara earlier this year in which one person died.

Bulut Yayla was designated a terrorist under a State Department order, while the listing of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) was also reviewed and Washington decided to keep up its designation as a foreign terrorist organization.

"As a result of this designation, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction, in which Yayla has any interest is blocked and any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen," the State Department said in a statement.

It described Yayla as a trained operative of the DHKP/C, which it said "advocates a Marxist-Leninist ideology and opposes the United States' and Turkish governments, as well as NATO. Its goal is the establishment of a socialist state in Turkey." Turkish police launched a massive crackdown against the group after the February 1 suicide bombing in which a local guard was killed.

The outlawed DHKP/C has waged a string of attacks over the past few decades that have left dozens of people dead, including prominent political and military figures.

The fiercely anti-U.S. group also claimed a suicide bombing that killed a police officer in Istanbul on September 11 and threatened further attacks on other U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey.