DIYARBAKIR/ISTANBUL: Kurdish militants said on Friday they carried out a suicide bombing which killed eleven people in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul this week and warned the country was no longer safe for foreign tourists.
A car bomb ripped through a police bus in central Istanbul during the morning rush hour on Tuesday near the main tourist district, a major university and the mayor’s office, the latest in a series of attacks in the city this year.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, vowed to continue attacks across Turkey and said while it was not targeting tourists, they could be at risk. “Some may miss peace, but we have just started the war,” the group said.
Turkey, the world’s sixth-biggest tourist destination, has seen a sharp drop-off in visitors due to concerns about deteriorating security. Arrivals saw the biggest drop in 17 years in April, while average hotel occupancy rates are down nearly 70 percent nationally, according to industry data.
In a move that could further fuel tensions with Turkey’s Kurdish minority, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said legal proceedings had been launched which could pave the way for dozens of MPs from the pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party to be prosecuted over alleged militant links. President Tayyip Erdogan, who views the HDP as the political wing of the PKK, signed a bill on Tuesday lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution and has made no secret of his desire to see members of the pro-Kurdish party indicted.
Bozdag said 117 dossiers had been sent to the relevant prosecutors and there were pending cases against 152 lawmakers, warning they would be stripped of their parliamentary seats if convicted.
A car bomb ripped through a police bus in central Istanbul during the morning rush hour on Tuesday near the main tourist district, a major university and the mayor’s office, the latest in a series of attacks in the city this year.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, vowed to continue attacks across Turkey and said while it was not targeting tourists, they could be at risk. “Some may miss peace, but we have just started the war,” the group said.
Turkey, the world’s sixth-biggest tourist destination, has seen a sharp drop-off in visitors due to concerns about deteriorating security. Arrivals saw the biggest drop in 17 years in April, while average hotel occupancy rates are down nearly 70 percent nationally, according to industry data.
In a move that could further fuel tensions with Turkey’s Kurdish minority, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said legal proceedings had been launched which could pave the way for dozens of MPs from the pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party to be prosecuted over alleged militant links. President Tayyip Erdogan, who views the HDP as the political wing of the PKK, signed a bill on Tuesday lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution and has made no secret of his desire to see members of the pro-Kurdish party indicted.
Bozdag said 117 dossiers had been sent to the relevant prosecutors and there were pending cases against 152 lawmakers, warning they would be stripped of their parliamentary seats if convicted.
