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At least 27 injured in vehicle bomb explosion in Van, E. Turkey

He delivered the message through a video message to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

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Burhan Kayaturk, a member of parliament from the ruling AKP party, told private channel HaberTurk that there are 11 wounded.

Van province’s population is mostly Kurdish.

On August 24, Turkey launched an ambitious campaign inside Syria, sending in tanks and special forces to support opposition fighters in a bid to remove ISIS jihadists and Kurdish militia forces from its frontier.

Since the two-year peace process broke down, the Turkish government has taken a hard-line stance to the Kurdish problem, destroying several towns seized by militants and clamping down on the legal pro-Kurdish political movement in the country.

The HDP decried what it said was an “administrative coup” and said the move was illegal.

The United States and European Union both list the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his government’s commitment to eliminating IS in Syria and the threat the group poses to Turkey.

“To me, it is a step that came late”.

“Being elected does not give you unlimited authority and powers to use against the government and people”. “You, as mayors and municipal councils, can not stand up and support terrorist organisations”, he told reporters after prayers outside an Istanbul mosque, shortly before the attack.

“They are carrying TNT (explosives)”.

The US embassy in Ankara condemned what it called a “terrorist attack”, adding that such criminal acts were never justified.

The autonomy-seeking PKK took up arms in 1984, and more than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died in the fighting. The crackdown has coincided with a purge of journalists, politicians, government workers, soldiers, teachers and others after a failed coup attempt in July.

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Also Sunday, the Interior Ministry removed 28 mayors from office on charges of supporting terrorism and appointed local trustees to replace them. Twelve of the mayors have been arrested, its statement said.

Turkey removes mayors from office and the President Erdogan briefs news about this and other news about aid at Syrian border