The daily reported yesterday that the İstanbul Intelligence Branch had warned the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), police and gendarmerie 33 days before the attack on Dec. 7 and asked them to increase security for the soldiers.
The İstanbul intelligence branch, which had started to prepare the report on Nov. 2 and sent it on Dec. 4, indicated that an arm of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) known as the Maoist Communist Party (MKP) was armed.
Titled “Possible Action” the report stated that the MKP had formed a new group in Tunceli and it had sufficient amount of weapons and ammunition.
The report also indicated that soldiers should choose alternative routes; vehicles should not leave before necessary precautions were taken; personnel should make sure that traps were not established in areas of high risk; security precautions should be reviewed in the premises of the ruling party, the Justice Ministry, and in the buildings which house security personnel; intelligence activities should be increased; and developments should be immediately reported to the director general of anti-terrorism.
The Fırat news agency had announced that the attack was carried out by a unit of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, but without an order from the forces or the PKK. The agency reported that the assault was not the result of a directive from the HPG command. The HPG also said the assault was retaliation against Turkish security forces because of recent military operations against the terrorist organization.
Following the attack, the General Staff released the texts of the attackers’ wireless communications. MİT official Emre Taner had said that the conversation style was not similar to that of the PKK.
