The Turkish government pinned the blame for deadly Istanbul bomb attacks squarely on Kurdish separatists on Wednesday, dismissing a rival claim of responsibility by a group aligning itself with al Qaeda.
"We dunnit!"
"You did not! You wudn't even there!" |
But a senior police official said investigators had not ruled out an al Qaeda link to Tuesday's attacks, which killed two people and injured 11, and diplomats said the involvement of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas was not yet proved.
"It coulda been them!"
"B'lieve me, it wudn't them!" |
Newspapers quoted Turkish officials as saying the PKK, which recently called off a unilateral cease-fire, was behind the explosions at two small hotels and a gas depot in Turkey's economic capital. A Turk and an Iranian were killed and several foreign tourists were among the wounded. "The people who did this are linked to the PKK militants who were seized two days ago by the Istanbul Security Directorate," the Star daily quoted Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu as saying, referring to a recent crackdown on the organization. Police declined to comment on reports that some arrests had been made in connection with the bomb attacks.
"An' see? It wudn't them we arrested!"
"Well, who did you arrest?"
"We ain't sayin'!"
"Then it coulda been them." |
Two groups have claimed they carried out the bombings, at the height of Turkey's economically vital tourist season. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which links itself to al Qaeda and has repeatedly claimed responsibility for attacks including the Madrid train bombings and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, said on an Islamist Web site it was behind the bombs and warned of more to come. A previously unknown group calling itself the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks also claimed responsibility on a small local news agency that often carries PKK statements. It said it was retaliating for Turkish operations against Kurdish guerrillas.
"It wuz us, see?"
"Oh, shuddup! It wudn't youse!" |
The Islamist claim evoked memories of four massive suicide bomb attacks that killed more than 60 people in Istanbul in November, carried out by a Turkish group linked to al Qaeda. But the Abu Hafs group has not been officially linked to any of the attacks it has claimed, and officials quoted in the Turkish media said the bombings bore the hallmark of the PKK. Violence has recently flared again in the southeast after a lull of several years following the jailing of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds. |