The explosion occurred in the district of Nazimiye at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday as a police car was passing by. Military helicopters were dispatched to the area after the explosion.
The incident comes on the heels of a decision by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) to disbar a newly elected pro-Kurdish deputy, Hatip Dicle. The YSK decision was criticized by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), whose members said the decision would increase tension in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Southeast.
The explosion also comes in spite of a recent statement by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who said through his lawyers that he had decided to prolong a unilateral cease-fire his group had declared last summer. The PKK refers to its cease-fire as a “non-attack” decision. The lawyers said Öcalan believes the continuation of the cease-fire would contribute to a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.
Turkey's Kurdish issue has been present since the early years of the republic but turned violent in 1984 after the establishment of the terrorist PKK. More than 40,000 civilians and security forces have been killed in PKK-government clashes to date.
