ISTANBUL: A radical Turkish Marxist group claimed responsibility yesterday for twin attacks on the justice ministry and the headquarters of the ruling party in a statement posted on their Internet site.
“Our warriors hit the justice ministry and the AKP headquarters... at the heart of Ankara on March 19,” the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKP-C) said on their Halkin Sesi website. Turkish authorities had already blamed the group for the simultaneous grenade and rocket attacks late on Tuesday against the buildings, in which one person was slightly wounded.
In an apparent warning to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the group said there would be further attacks against “the castles of oppression.”
Speaking during a visit to Denmark, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the police were on the hunt for the perpetrators, whom he said were linked to “Ergenekon”, a shadowy criminal gang involving prominent military and political figures. “We will move on our path decisively,” Erdogan was quoted by Anatolia news agency as telling reporters in Denmark. “We will not backtrack or postpone the process.”
The fiercely anti-United States and anti-government DHKP-C has also claimed a February 1 suicide bombing at the US embassy in Ankara, where a security guard was killed. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the DHKP-C had suffered a setback in recent weeks with the arrest of hundreds of alleged militants in large police operations across Turkey.
AFP
