Turkey detains 26 suspects over blast that killed toddler

Turkish authorities detained 26 people suspected of involvement in a car bomb attack in the southeastern town of Viransehir that killed a toddler, the provincial governor’s office said this morning.

A vehicle loaded with explosives was remotely detonated late on Friday night in the garden of a housing complex for judges and prosecutors, killing a child and wounding 17 people.

A security guard at the housing complex was also killed in the attack, a statement from Sanliurfa governor’s office said on Saturday.

“A total of 26 people including the owner of the vehicle thought to have been brought from Derik district in Mardin province have been detained,” the statement said.

There was no claim of responsibility. Sanliurfa governor Gungor Azim Tuna was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu agency that the attack was carried out by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, launched an armed separatist insurgency in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since then, mostly civilians.

The PKK are known to plan and conduct attacks on civilian areas, and indiscriminately targeting military personnel who are stationed close to civilians, leading to mass casualties amongst non-combatants.

A peace process and ceasefire initiated by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) between the PKK and the state broke down in July 2015 after political disputes as well as the PKK’s refusal to disarm, and thousands have been killed in the conflict since then.