In the latest in a series of bombings, a suicide bomber threw himself in front of a provincial governor's car in southern Turkey on Thursday, killing himself and the driver of the car. Hakkari province governor Nihat Canpolat was injured in the attack, along with a paramilitary police chief and a bodyguard. Several bystanders were also injured.
The attack occurred in the predominantly Kurdish Southeastern region, in the town of Yuksekova, near Turkey's border with Iraq and Iran. Governor Canpolat was in the town for a pre-scheduled official inspection.
Open season on provincial governors
This was the third attack on a regional governor since the capture
in February of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan. Last Monday a
similar attack was aimed at Suleyman Kamci, governor of Bingol province
in Southeastern Turkey. The attacker rushed towards Kamci as he walked
towards his office from his parked car, and detonated explosives strapped
to his body. Kamci was not hurt, but a 16 year-old girl was killed and
more than twelve bystanders injured.
Last month an attempt was made on the life of Governor Ayhan Cevik in the central Turkish city of Cankiri. A Maoist group called TIKKO took responsibility for that attack--significantly the only attack outside of the Kurdish dominated Southeastern regions.
TIKKO is known to have a strategic alliance with the PKK. There is speculation that the PKK "sub-contracted" the action to TIKKO, because of the Maoist organization's greater strength and operational capability in the region.
Both of the attacks in the Southeast--that on Kamci and the more recent one on Canpolat--were officially claimed by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Kurdish DEM news agency reported that, "The attack on Hakkari governor Nihat Canpolat was carried out by an ARGK guerrilla named Turab Mohemmedi who is registered in Orumiyeh city." Orumiyeh is across the border in Iran, not far from where the attack took place.
The ARGK (The Kurdistan Peoples' Liberation Army) is the armed wing of the PKK.
Turkish military on the offensive
On Thursday Turkish troops reportedly began an offensive against PKK
bases in the remote mountains and valleys of the eastern province of Tunceli.
Military sources quoted by Reuters said that some 20,000 soldiers backed
by armor, fighter jets and helicopters were sweeping through the Guzelsu
region and toward the Alibogazi valley.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Anatolian News Agency