Ambush kills 9, bombing is foiled
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 30, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Terrorist attacks will not deter efforts of national security forces, the chief of General Staff says in defiant response to violent strikes across Turkey including the deaths of nine soldiers in Diyarbakır and a suicide bomber in Ankara. ’We should avoid pessimism. That’s what the perpetrators are hoping for,’ the general says
Acts of terror permeated the atmosphere across the country yesterday as 10 soldiers were killed and a former minister survived two suicide-bomb attempts against him in the capital.
Nine soldiers were killed when the armored vehicle carrying them struck a roadside bomb in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, shortly before Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ was set to have a rare briefing session with journalists in the capital. In Ankara, meanwhile, former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Türk, 74, survived an attempt on his life by a suicide bomber. Also in the southeastern province of Hakkarı, another soldier was killed when the Gendarmerie station where he was posted came under fire.
"Incidents like that will definitely not decrease security forces or our determination in the struggle against the separatist terror organization," Başbuğ told reporters at the beginning of his press meeting yesterday. Pointing out that Turkey, under current circumstances, could face similar terrorist attacks in the future, Başbuğ said: "The one thing we should avoid is pessimism. That’s what the perpetrators of these attacks hope will happen. We should not let that happen."
Türk was justice minister between 1999 and 2002 when high-security F-type prisons were opened to stop the expansion of mainly leftist militant organizations inside detention facilities. He said just as he was about to enter his constitutional law class at Bilkent University’s law faculty, a girl waylaid him. "She pretended to ask a question, I told her to come after class. Just as I entered the class I heard an explosion behind me," said Türk after the failed suicide-bomb attempt. "She managed to activate a detonator or two, but the main explosive, which was said to be enough to destroy the building, did not go off," Türk said. "We were told to leave the building."
The assailant was caught at the scene and transported to hospital..
Nine soldiers were killed when the armored vehicle carrying them struck a roadside bomb in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, shortly before Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ was set to have a rare briefing session with journalists in the capital. In Ankara, meanwhile, former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Türk, 74, survived an attempt on his life by a suicide bomber. Also in the southeastern province of Hakkarı, another soldier was killed when the Gendarmerie station where he was posted came under fire.
"Incidents like that will definitely not decrease security forces or our determination in the struggle against the separatist terror organization," Başbuğ told reporters at the beginning of his press meeting yesterday. Pointing out that Turkey, under current circumstances, could face similar terrorist attacks in the future, Başbuğ said: "The one thing we should avoid is pessimism. That’s what the perpetrators of these attacks hope will happen. We should not let that happen."
Türk was justice minister between 1999 and 2002 when high-security F-type prisons were opened to stop the expansion of mainly leftist militant organizations inside detention facilities. He said just as he was about to enter his constitutional law class at Bilkent University’s law faculty, a girl waylaid him. "She pretended to ask a question, I told her to come after class. Just as I entered the class I heard an explosion behind me," said Türk after the failed suicide-bomb attempt. "She managed to activate a detonator or two, but the main explosive, which was said to be enough to destroy the building, did not go off," Türk said. "We were told to leave the building."
The assailant was caught at the scene and transported to hospital..