The bloodshed comes after a top commander with the PKK – which is labelled a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies – last week threatened further attacks in Turkish cities.
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Turkish leaders on Thursday accused the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of waging three attacks in less than 24 hours that for the first time struck areas in the east that are not predominantly Kurdish. At least 73 other people – 53 civilians and 20 police officers – were wounded, officials said.
“On Monday, a auto bomb detonated near a traffic police station outside the southeast city of Diyarbakir, killing eight”, he says.
Clashes between the PKK and Turkey’s security forces resumed past year after a fragile peace process collapsed.
Amid rising bilateral tensions, Turkey has said that its future relationship with the United States will be influenced by the outcome of the extradition request.
Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Turkey accuses Gulen of being the mastermind behind Turkey’s failed 15 July coup attempt and has branded his movement a terror organisation.
Turkey’s request for US extradition of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen refers only to his alleged activities before last month’s failed coup attempt, for which the Turks have not yet provided any evidence of his involvement, a senior administration official said.
More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died since it took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
Turkish police have launched simultaneous raids in 18 cities against companies linked to US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen as authorities pressed ahead with a clampdown on his movement.
Gulen, who lives in the United States, denies any involvement.
Police on Friday widened their probe into alleged Gulen-linked businesses, issuing arrest warrants for 18 more suspects, bringing the total number of those being searched to 205, Dogan reported.
Separately, a court ordered that 187 suspects’ assets be seized, according to Anadolu.
Earlier Thursday, a huge auto bomb struck police headquarters in the city of Elazig at about 8.a.m local time (1 p.m. PHT), killing three officers, Anadolu reported.
It was the fifth explosion in the past two weeks to target police facilities in southeastern and eastern Turkey.
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Three police officers were killed and 217 people were wounded, 85 of them police officers, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
