Bomb kills five (including one Irish woman) in Turkish minibus attack

[Theobald]

Bomb kills five in Turkish minibus attack

IZMIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A bomb ripped through a minibus in a western Turkish holiday resort on Saturday, killing five people and injuring 13, including foreign tourists, officials said.

They had earlier suspected a female suicide bomber of triggering the blast but a local official said this looked unlikely now that the five victims had been identified.

One British and one Irish woman were among the dead, along with three Turks -- two women and a man. Another five Britons were among the injured.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, the second in the region within a week. Kurdish militants said they carried out a bomb attack on July 10 which injured 20.

Television footage of the scene showed the top of the minibus had been blown off by the force of the blast, which occurred about 10:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) as the vehicle traveled through the town of Kusadasi on the way to a beach.

Kusadasi, 70 km (45 miles) from the port city of Izmir, is popular with Turkish and foreign tourists.

An Irish government spokesman said an Irish woman was killed while Britain's Foreign Office said a British woman died of her injuries after the attack. Four Britons were badly hurt and a fifth suffered minor injuries.
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said Britain's ambassador to Turkey, Peter Westmacott, was on his way to Kusadasi.

"We condemn this repugnant act, which has ruined the lives, of so many innocent people," Straw said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families. As always we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Turkey, in sympathy and in our refusal to allow terrorists to destroy our values and our liberty."
Turkey is one of the favorite tourist destinations for Britons, with 1.5 million traveling there each year.

Source

[Alkman]

http://www.canada.com/news/world/sto...e-e4cc221de097

[Menydh]

PKK blamed for Turkish explosion

Deutsche Welle
July 17, 2005

A bomb which exploded on a tourist bus in the Turkish resort of Kusadasi was most likely planted by members of the PKK, the Turkish authorities have said. The PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and EU and has been staging a violent campaign against the Turkish government for an independent Kurdish state since 1978. At least five people were killed in the bomb blast that comes a week after a bomb attack in the nearby resort of Cesme, which injured 20 people.


[source]

[Carnyx]

Ha, I had forgotten the PKK. As if we had not enough with muslim terrorists. We'll have to deal with PKK attacks in Europe. I can't wait for Turkey to be a part of the EU...

[Theobald]

The PKK ? Rather surprising... I didn't think they would have attacked "Western" tourists, as Kurds hope a support from EU against the Turkish state.

[Menydh]

They said on TV that some split branch of PKK has claimed the authory of the attack.

[Rusalka]

Originally Posted by Theobald

The PKK ? Rather surprising... I didn't think they would have attacked "Western" tourists, as Kurds hope a support from EU against the Turkish state.

On the contrary, not surprising at all. PKK has always been known to attack touristic areas during high season, so as to undermine the country's tourism income. Besides, Turkey's joining the EU would help the Kurds but not the PKK. The situation is quite rotten as it is and PKK -along with the stronger feudal lords of the area- pretty much controls the drug traffic between the Middle East and Europe through the southeastern border so the possible re-organization of the Turkish army and the normalization of the area wouldn't be in their favor.