Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in T

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey (fwd)

Explosion hits pro-Kurd office in Turkey

    ISTANBUL, Sept 20 (Reuter) - An explosion rocked a building
housing the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) in
Turkey's port city of Izmir on Wednesday, shattering windows but
causing no injuries, local HADEP officials said.
    Turkish police said the early morning explosion in the
three-storey building was caused by a leaky gas canister, but
HADEP officials said a bomb had been placed outside the door.
    ``For sure it was not a gas canister, it was a bomb,'' said
a HADEP official who did not want to be named.
    He told Reuters by telephone there were depressions in the
ground outside the door where they thought the bomb was left,
while the office's gas canisters remained intact.
    The explosion at the Gaziemir district building comes three
days after a bomb placed at a nearby cafe frequented by off-duty
Turkish soldiers killed five people and wounded 24.
    HADEP officials said the explosion at their building might
have been in retaliation for the bombing, which Turkish
newspapers blamed on separatist Kurdish guerrillas fighting for
autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey.
    Numerous HADEP officials throughout Turkey are on trial for
alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but
HADEP officials dismiss the charges as a smear campaign aimed at
weakening Kurdish demands for broader cultural and political
rights.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service