A separatist group called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) claimed responsibility for an explosion late last night which wounded six people, one of them seriously, in an Istanbul supermarket.
Istanbul governor Muammer Guler told Anatolia news agency the explosion in the Bahcelievler district of Turkey's largest city injured six people. The agency said 15 other people had been hurt.
"We consider the explosion that took place in an Istanbul supermarket to be a response to the barbaric policies against the Kurdish people by the fascist Turkish state," the Falcons said in a statement published on the website of pro-Kurdish press agency Firat (FNA).
NTV television channel quoted police as saying the attack might have been timed to coincide with the anniversary of the arrest on February 15, 1999, of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, who was later jailed for life.
The blast came four days after an explosion rocked an Internet cafe in Istanbul frequented by police officers, killing one person and injuring 15.
Firat, which is based in Europe, reported that an anonymous caller had claimed responsibility for that blast on behalf of TAK.
Turkish officials say TAK is a cover group used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), of which Ocalan is the leader, to carry out attacks on civilian targets that would draw international condemnation.
{{/usCountry}}Turkish officials say TAK is a cover group used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), of which Ocalan is the leader, to carry out attacks on civilian targets that would draw international condemnation.
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