One DHKP-C militant killed in clash in Turkey’s east

TUNCELİ – Doğan News Agency

One outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) militant was killed and another fled the scene on March 30 when they attacked a police post in the eastern province of Tunceli.

A clash erupted when two DHKP-C militants attacked the post at the entrance of the Tunceli Governor’s Office and courthouse with hand grenades before eventually trying to enter the building by firing automatic weapons at around 8:40 p.m. One DHKP-C militant was killed during the clash with security forces while the other fled the scene.

The Tunceli Governor’s Office said in a statement that the killed DHKP-C militant was identified as Onur Polat, born in 1990 and registered to Istanbul. It also added that one gun along with one long-barreled weapon and hand grenades were seized.

A wide-scale operation has begun to apprehend the other DHKP-C militant, as a number of police and gendarmerie special operation teams were deployed to the scene.

Meanwhile, five DHKP-C suspects were detained during an anti-terror raid against the offices of “Yürüyüş” magazine, which allegedly has ties to the illegal organization, in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district early on March 30. Special operations police, riot police, and a fire squad took part in the operation, supported by police helicopters. 

The police entered the magazine’s offices on Fevzi Çakmak Street in Sultangazi by breaking through its door and walls. Before the police’s entrance, the suspects reportedly set some files alight, but the police managed to seize some printed and digital documents that they recovered from the fire during the search of the building. 

The counter-terrorism team also took a backup of the data from the computers in the office in order to examine the content. 

The detainees – identified as Yeliz K., Ebru Y., Ümit Ç., Beşir E. and Tahsin S. - were taken to the central police department in Istanbul’s Aksaray neighborhood for interrogation after health checks.