Turkey thwarted 230 militant attacks in 23 days, Deputy PM says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's deputy prime minister says authorities have foiled close to 230 Kurdish rebel attacks in the past few weeks, including 19 would-be suicide bombings, the Associated Press reports.

In a news conference following a Council of Ministers meeting Wednesday, September 7, Nurettin Canikli told reporters the security forces and intelligence officials had thwarted as many as 229 attacks between Aug. 15 and Sept. 7. Canikli said they included 155 planned bombings — 39 of them involving car bombs.

In addition, Turkish authorities arrested 24 suspects who were allegedly preparing to launch attacks, he said.

Turkey has been rocked by a series of deadly car bombings targeting police or military facilities blamed on militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

A fragile peace process between the state and the PKK collapsed last year.