10 People Killed by Roadside Bomb in the South-East

A minibus became subject of a roadside bomb attack on the highway between the town of Durankaya and the Geçitli village in Hakkari, a province on the pre-dominantly Kurdish south-eastern tip of the country.

As reported by the Hakkarinews.com news site, the explosion happened when the minibus used by villagers passed by on the way between the two villages of Peyanıs and Nişe.  As announced on the webpage, several people died and got injured in the incident. It is believed that the explosion was caused by a roadside bomb.

Erdoğan: The incident will not remain unanswered

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an announcement made after the incident: "We are closely following this operation. This kind of incidents will not intimidate us. Terrorism is charging a certain price but this will not remain unanswered".

The explosion happened after Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtissari, met Prime Minister Erdoğan after he had been in Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey) to make his contribution to the solution of the Kurdish question.

Demirtaş: The same people that bombed a bookstore

Selattin Demirtaş, Chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), said that subsequent to the incident the government cancelled a scheduled meeting with him. Demirtaş called the attack a provocation. In his opinion, the perpetrators "are the same people that bombed a bookstore in Şemdinli" (south-east).

Governor Türker: Ten casualties

The Governor of Hakkari, Muammer Türker, said that according to first information, ten people were killed in the explosion and four people, among them a 15-months old baby, were wounded.  The bodies of the people killed in the explosion and the people injured were taken to the Hakkari State Hospital by army helicopters.

KCK: Attack was a counter strike

It is not clear yet who was behind the attack. As reported by Fırat News Agency (ANF), the Steering Council of the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan (KCK), the umbrella organisation that includes the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), declared that they had nothing to do with the bomb attack. "This attack was a counter strike. The patriotic heroes of the Hakkari people abided by the boycott decision and did not vote in the referendum", the KCK announced.

Governor: Two explosive devices found

Hakkari Governor Türker said that civilians found three backpacks and two explosives at the scene of the incident. Before they could have a closer look at the devices, security forces seized them.

The people who died in the explosion were the driver, Aydın Erol, and passangers Eşref Gür, Enes Erol, Abuzeyd İden, Şirin Kurt, Semiha Dayan, Raife Çiftçi, Cane Dayan, Nurullah Çiftçi and Umut Çiftçi. The names of the wounded were announced as Özgür İden, Berivan Dayan, three-year old S.K. and 15-months old Z.K. (EÖ/VK)