Powerful blast hits Turkey’s Van, dozens reported woundedSeptember 12, 2016 - 13:37 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 27 people were wounded in a bomb attack near the ruling AK party headquarters in the Turkish city of Van, officials said, according to Al Jazeera. The blast, which went off on Monday, September 12 morning, took place between the AK party's offices and those of the governor, Anadolu news agency reported. 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 car bomb. "Through these attacks, they are getting more and more hatred in the [southeastern] region," he told Turkey's CNNTurk television. The governor's office said two policemen were among the wounded. One civilian was reportedly in critical condition. Television images showed water cannon being used to put out the fire caused by the explosion. Witnesses said the force of the blast shattered windows in the surrounding vicinity. Several ambulances rushed to the scene, Al Jazeera says. The blast came a day after the government announced the removal of 28 mayors , mainly over alleged links to the PKK in a move strongly denounced by pro-Kurdish parties. The PKK is listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies. The government has stepped up its military campaign in the restive southeast to eradicate PKK fighters, who have launched almost daily attacks since the rupture of a fragile ceasefire last year. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984, with the aim of carving out an independent state for Turkey's Kurdish minority. Turkey has also launched an operation inside Syria to remove the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group as well as Syrian Kurdish armed groups from its frontier. Photo: AFP Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |