PKK bombmaker faces aggravated life term plus 472 years behind bars
DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency
Prosecutors in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır have demanded an aggravated life term and 472 years in jail for a 27-year-old outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant who was caught on May 4 on a bus arriving in Istanbul from Diyarbakır to allegedly carry out an attack in the city. The two separate indictments prepared against suspect Yakup Akkan, who was caught with a fake ID under the name of Diyar Doğan, sought the sentences on four terror-related charges after he was identified as being one of the most important bombmakers in the PKK and of being the producer of explosives that were used by the group in the Sur and Silvan districts of Diyarbakır in a number of attacks targeting security forces in 2015, including the Dec. 15, 2015, Silvan attack.
In the attack, which took place while an armored vehicle was passing on the Diyarbakır-Silvan motorway, police chief Ahmet Kabukçu, special police force officer Mustafa Nohut and officer Nuri Yazaner were killed while two other officers were wounded.
Previously wanted over 11 terror-related charges, Akkan’s fingerprints were found on an explosive that was used in a Nov. 10, 2015, attack in Silvan targeting a military vehicle carrying 21 security personnel. In his testimony, Akkan also confessed to producing the explosive used in the attack.
The second indictment against Akkan also stated that he confessed to having prepared explosives in the Lice district of Diyarbakir in November and December 2015 for 40 days.
Akkan was also accused of being a member of the PKK and the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and was a high-ranking member in the hierarchical structure of the groups.
The indictment was accepted by a Diyarbakır Court of Serious Crimes, with the trial expected to begin in the near future.
In the attack, which took place while an armored vehicle was passing on the Diyarbakır-Silvan motorway, police chief Ahmet Kabukçu, special police force officer Mustafa Nohut and officer Nuri Yazaner were killed while two other officers were wounded.
Previously wanted over 11 terror-related charges, Akkan’s fingerprints were found on an explosive that was used in a Nov. 10, 2015, attack in Silvan targeting a military vehicle carrying 21 security personnel. In his testimony, Akkan also confessed to producing the explosive used in the attack.
The second indictment against Akkan also stated that he confessed to having prepared explosives in the Lice district of Diyarbakir in November and December 2015 for 40 days.
Akkan was also accused of being a member of the PKK and the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and was a high-ranking member in the hierarchical structure of the groups.
The indictment was accepted by a Diyarbakır Court of Serious Crimes, with the trial expected to begin in the near future.
