TURKEY: SATURDAY BOMBING IN MERSIN

UNCLAS ADANA 000133 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: SATURDAY BOMBING IN MERSIN ¶1. (U) One police officer and twelve civilians were wounded by a bomb which exploded at 11:40 am on Saturday, June 3, 2006, in downtown Mersin. The bomb reportedly was planted in a black plastic bag. Some press accounts attribute the detonation to a remote control device. No American citizens were injured. The bomb was placed in front of a tobacco kiosk on Ataturk Street which is in a busy shopping district. Mersin has increased numbers of foreign tourists, especially western Europeans, during the summer season. ¶2. (U) This is the second bomb in less than a week in Mersin. On Monday, May 29, 2006, at 10:30 am a small percussion-like bomb, which was placed in a trash barrel, exploded on Silifke Street near the fish market. There were no injuries. ¶3. (U) The Kurdistan Ozgurluk Sahinleri (also known by their Kurdish name, Teyrebazen Azadiya Kurdistan - TAK) Freedom Hawks of Kurdistan, have claimed responsibility for the June 3 incident, and police tell us that they suspect the same organization of perpetrating the May 29, 2006 incident. REID