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turkey attack

At least four people have been killed in a car bomb and gun assault on a courthouse in the Turkish city of Izmir, state media say.

Two attackers, a police officer and a court worker are being reported dead.

Officials blamed Kurdish militants for the attack. A third attacker is reportedly still being sought.

The attackers drove a car to the courthouse entrance, sparking an exchange with police and then detonating the car bomb.

Other of people were injured in the explosion, some critically.

Some of Turkey’s big cities have been targeted recently both by ISIS and by Kurdish militants.

Turkey launched a military operation in Syria last year to push back ISIS and Kurdish forces from the Turkish border.

Image source birgun.com

ISIS had said it was behind last weekend’s Istanbul club attack that left 39 people dead.

Izmir’s Governor Erol Ayyildiz the attackers were armed with Kalashnikov rifles and grenades.

Deputy PM Veysi Kaynak said that, judging by the weapons found following the raid, a much larger attack was being planned.

Images from the scene showed two cars ablaze. Erol Ayyildiz said that the second had been destroyed in a controlled explosion.

Reports of the number of people injured in the car bomb blast ranged from five to 11.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at the opening of a metro line in the capital, Ankara, said that Turkey was “under mutual attack by terrorist groups and they want Turkey to be brought to its knees”.

The Turkish president said: “They won’t be able to set people against each other. They couldn’t destroy our unity.”

No-one has yet said they carried out the Izmir attack but the governor said initial findings pointed to the involvement of Kurdish fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK is fighting for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.

It has carried out many attacks on Turkish security forces, particularly in the south-east.

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The number of people killed the Istanbul’s Ataturk airport attack has risen to 41 with 239 injured, the Turkish city’s governor says.

Thirteen of those killed in the attack were foreign nationals, he added.

Three attackers arrived in a taxi and began firing at the terminal entrance late on June 28. They blew themselves up after police fired back.

Turkish PM Binali Yildirim said early signs pointed to ISIS.

However, no-one has so far admitted carrying out the attack.

Turkey has declared June 29 a day of national mourning.

Turkish investigators are examining CCTV footage, witness statements and mobile phone video recorded by terrified passengers to try to determine the identity of the attackers.

According to the Dogan news agency, autopsies on the three dead men suggested they may be foreign nationals but this has not been confirmed.

Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag says that 128 people remain in hospital, including nationals of Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Switzerland, the Associated Press reports.

Of those, 41 are still in intensive care.Istanbul airport attack death toll

Heavily-armed security personnel were patrolling the airport.

Flights had resumed in the early morning, though with many cancellations and delays.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack should serve as a turning point in the global fight against militant groups.

Reports of the attack vary but it appears the attackers opened fire at the entrance where X-ray machines are positioned, sparking an exchange with police. At least two of the attackers ran into the building.

Footage on social media shows one moving through the building as people around him flee. He is shot by police and remains on the ground for about 20 seconds before blowing himself up. All three attackers were killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to Turkey in a phone call with President Erdogan, as the pair seek to rebuild ties.

France’s President Francois Hollande has confirmed two French nationals were injured in the attack, but not seriously.

Pope Francis also denounced the “brutal terrorist attack”, saying: “May the Lord convert the hearts of the violent ones and support our efforts toward the path of peace.”

#PrayforTurkey began trending on Twitter after the attack on Istanbul international airport.

At least 28 people have been killed and scores injured in a rush-hour car bombing targeting military personnel in Ankara, Turkey.

Ankara Governor Mehmet Kiliçer said the explosion was aimed at a convoy of military vehicles as it passed through the administrative center of the Turkish state, close to parliament, government buildings and Turkey’s military headquarters.

Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus confirmed that the attack was carried out with a car bomb, but added that the perpetrators had not yet been identified.

“We do not yet know the perpetrators,” he told reporters.

Photo Reuters

Photo Reuters

“This attack did not only target our military personnel in those shuttles. This attack openly targets our entire nation. We condemn those who carried it out, those who instrumentalized the perpetrators, and those who gave logistical, intelligence and even political support to such attacks.”

An official at the armed forces’ general staff confirmed military buses had been the target, hit by an explosive-laden car as they waited at traffic lights.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack would only strengthen Turkey’s resolve against insurgents.

PM Ahmet Davutoğlu cancelled a trip to Brussels to attend a security briefing. He said the authorities were looking into information they have received about the explosion on Wednesday night, February 17.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement saying: “We will continue our fight against the pawns that carry out such attacks, which know no moral or humanitarian bounds, and the forces behind them with more determination every day.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Security sources told Reuters that “initial signs [indicated] that militants from Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were behind the Ankara bombing on Wednesday”. This has not been confirmed.

A PKK suicide attack has killed two Turkish security troops and wounded other 24 near the town of Dogubayazit in Agri province, close to Turkey’s border with Iran, the regional governor’s office says.

A tractor laden with explosives was driven at a military police station, reports by Turkish media say.

Since July 24, Turkey has carried out hundreds of air raids on PKK bases on both sides of the Iraq-Turkey border.

The Turkish state news agency, Anadolu, said that the attack happened at around 03:00 local time.

It said that the tractor was carrying two tons of explosives that were detonated by a suicide bomber.

Images in the Turkish press showed a badly-damaged building with the roof destroyed.PKK Suicide Attack Kills Turkish Troops near Iraq Border

The regional governor did not say how the PKK had been identified as the group behind the blast. The PKK has not commented.

AFP said it would be the first time the Kurdish militants were accused of deploying a suicide bomber during recent clashes.

Turkey’s official news agency says about 260 Kurdish fighters have been killed in strikes in northern Iraq and Turkey since July 24. It has also targeted positions held by the Islamic State group, known as ISIS.

Further Turkish air raids were reported early on Saturday, this time in the Rawanduz area east of Erbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

At least six people were killed and several more wounded in the town of Zarkel, local officials said. They reportedly included at least two women.

Turkey considers both the PKK and ISIS terrorist organizations.

The PKK was established in 1978 and called for an independent state within Turkey – a country that now has 15 million Kurds.

In 1984, the PKK began an armed struggle.

Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, but in 2012, the government and PKK began peace talks and the following year a ceasefire was agreed.

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The suicide bomber who killed 32 youth activists in the Turkish town of Suruc has been identified, government officials say.

According to the DNA tests, the attacker was a 20-year-old Turkish student, named by local media as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz.

Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz came from the south-eastern province of Adiyaman and was reportedly linked to ISIS militants.

Meanwhile, two Turkish police officers have been found dead in the town of Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border.

The officers were found with bullet wounds in the house they shared in the town, which is in the same province as Suruc.Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz identified as Suruc attack bomber

The outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the killings, saying it was in revenge for the massacre in Suruc and accusing the police officers of collaborating with ISIS.

At least one of the officers worked for an anti-terrorism task force, the AA news agency said.

Regional governor Izzetin Kucuk earlier said it was not yet clear “if there is a terrorist link”.

The suicide bombing on July 20 claimed 32 lives and injured 100 others, making it one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years.

The activists were mainly university students, who were holding a news conference when an explosion ripped through the Amara Cultural Centre.

They had been planning to travel to Syria to help rebuild the town of Kobane. The youngest victim was Okan Pirinc, who was 18, according to the Turkish media.

Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz’s mother told the newspaper Radikal, that her son had gone “abroad” six months ago and returned 10 days ago.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters that he believed the bomber, who he did not name, had travelled to Syria last year with the help of a group linked to ISIS militants.

There were rallies in cities across the country on July 21, with people condemning the attack and protesting at the government’s policies on Syria.

Many feel Ankara has not done enough to combat the threat of ISIS militants.

However, PM Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish leaders were committed to beating the group.

In a tweet, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS, Ahmet Davutoglu said: “I declare it to our esteemed nation and the entire world once again: Daesh and similar terrorist organizations will never achieve their target.”

PM Ahmet Davutoglu is due to chair a cabinet meeting on July 22 aimed at improving security on Turkey’s border with Syria.

According toTurkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu, a suspect has been identified in the suicide bomb attack that killed 32 young activists in Suruc.

PM Ahmet Davutoglu, who is due to visit the scene of the blast in Suruc near the Syrian border, said the suspect’s international and domestic links were being investigated.

There was a “high probability” that ISIS was to blame, he added.

The Turkish government has now vowed to increase security at the Syrian border.

“What’s necessary will be done against whomever responsible for [the attack],” said Ahmet Davutoglu.

“This is an attack that targeted Turkey,” he added.Suruc attack suspect identified

Ahmet Davutoglu rejected claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had not done enough to combat ISIS militants, saying the government had “never tolerated any terrorist group”.

A cabinet meeting on July 22 will examine additional security measures along the border with Syria.

Officials initially suggested the bomber may have been female, but local media outlets have named a man in connection with the attack.

All rallies and marches in the city of Sanliurfa, where Suruc is located, have now been banned.

The governor of the city said the measure was aimed at preventing “undesirable occurrences”.

The funerals of some of the victims have already taken place, but many relatives are still awaiting news of their loved ones.

The youth activists, who were mainly university students, were holding a news conference when the bomb ripped through the cultural centre. They had been planning to travel to Syria to help rebuild the town of Kobane.

Social media images showed the group, who were members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations, relaxing over breakfast a few hours before the noon blast.

Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to visit the scene of the massacre later on Tuesday.

Suruc is home to many refugees who have fled fierce fighting between ISIS and Kurdish fighters in nearby Kobane.