Erdoğan: Diyarbakır attack PKK style

A car bomb attack that killed five people in the southeastern Anatolian province of Diyarbakır last week bears the hallmark of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the prime minister said Saturday during a visit to the area. 

   A bomb-laden car exploded Thursday in front of a building packed with students preparing for university entrance exams, as a military bus carrying soldiers passed by. Four of the people killed were students. The explosion also left 68 people injured, including more than 30 soldiers.

  “Considering the type of action, it fits the style of the separatist terror organization,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters in Diyarbakır. “That is what our findings show.”

  Police are questioning four people suspected of being linked to the attack, which authorities have blamed on the PKK. No one has claimed responsibility.

  A local official said Friday that some 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of A-4 plastic explosives were used in the bombing. The official declined to be named, because he was not allowed to speak with journalists. The PKK has used plastic explosives in past attacks.

  “We are faced with savagery that does not recognize any human value,” said Erdoğan.

  The outlawed group “has shown that it has no other goal than to pursue its bloody scheme,” he added.

  The attack followed a series of operations by the Turkish military into the north of neighboring Iraq, where PKK terrorists enjoy safe haven. Around 4,000 terrorists are based in northern Iraq. Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, who visited the targeted city one day after the attack, said that both civilians and military personnel were targeted in the deadly blast.

  

Iraqi Kurdish leaders condemn bombing

  In Iraq, President Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration, condemned the bombing, describing it as a brutal act that targeted Kurds.

  “We condemn the terrorist act that occurred in Diyarbakır,” Barzani said during a joint news conference at the Dokan resort, about 40 kilometers west of Sulaymaniya.

  Barzani said he hoped “that all can recognize the enemies of freedom and peace are trying to commit more terrorist acts in order not to give dialogue a chance” to resolve differences.

  Talabani said the attack was “against the Kurdish population. We regret that and present our condolences to the martyrs families; we do believe that it is a criminal act.”