Besir Atalay, a deputy chairman of the AK party, blamed the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ party (PKK) for the attack, which initially appeared to have been caused by a auto bomb. The president has also pledged to crush militants involved in the alleged Kurdistan Workers Party insurgency – to carve out an autonomous Kurdish state.
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The blast happened in an area between the local offices of the ruling AKP party and the governor’s office.
Seven more were killed on Wednesday, security sources said.
However, Turkey’s Decree Law No. 674 gives the government temporary authority to replace the mayors, along with city council members, who are actively engaged or actively supporting terrorism.
The explosion, which happened at about 11:00 local time, tore the front off a four-story building, while video images from the Dogan news agency showed water cannon being used in an attempt to put out the flames.
Witnesses said the blast shattered windows in the vicinity and the AKP’s provincial offices sustained severe damage.
The Interior Ministry said in its statement that when local governments “come under the influence of terrorist organizations, it is the state’s primary duty to take precautions against those who have usurped the people’s will”.
Van is a city about 100 km east of the border with Iran and has a mixed Kurdish and Turkish population on the shores of the lake of the same name. Last month the government indicted several top Kurdish parliamentarians over alleged ties to the PKK in a move criticized by the European Union and United States. The pro-Kurdish opposition party accused the government of an illegal “administration coup” against the Kurdish minority.
The crackdown on the Kurdish majority in the southeast of Turkey has intensified following a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“You, as mayors and municipal councils, can not stand up and support terrorist organisations”.
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Anadolu said Abdullah Ocalan’s message was relayed Monday by his brother Mehmet Ocalan, who was allowed to visit the PKK leader at his island prison south of Istanbul the day before the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha.
