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| Turkish Marxist group claims Istanbul suicide bombing | Turkish Marxist group claims Istanbul suicide bombing |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A banned Marxist group in Turkey says it carried out Tuesday's suicide bombing in Istanbul in which the female bomber and a policeman died. | A banned Marxist group in Turkey says it carried out Tuesday's suicide bombing in Istanbul in which the female bomber and a policeman died. |
| The DHKP-C said on its website "our sacrificial fighter... carried out the sacrificial action on the tourist police department in Sultanahmet". | The DHKP-C said on its website "our sacrificial fighter... carried out the sacrificial action on the tourist police department in Sultanahmet". |
| Last week the group claimed an Istanbul attack in which a man was arrested after throwing grenades at police. Nobody was injured in the incident. | Last week the group claimed an Istanbul attack in which a man was arrested after throwing grenades at police. Nobody was injured in the incident. |
| DHKP-C says it is fighting corruption. | DHKP-C says it is fighting corruption. |
| The group accused the state of protecting "corrupt" ministers loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted AK Party dominates Turkish politics. | The group accused the state of protecting "corrupt" ministers loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted AK Party dominates Turkish politics. |
| In Tuesday's bombing a woman targeted a police station in the tourist hub of Sultanahmet, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia museum. | In Tuesday's bombing a woman targeted a police station in the tourist hub of Sultanahmet, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia museum. |
| She spoke English with "a thick accent", but her nationality and identity remained unknown, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told Turkish TV. A second policeman was injured in the attack. | She spoke English with "a thick accent", but her nationality and identity remained unknown, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told Turkish TV. A second policeman was injured in the attack. |
| The Turkish Hurriyet news website has named her, but there is no official confirmation. | The Turkish Hurriyet news website has named her, but there is no official confirmation. |
| The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says the claim of responsibility is credible. | The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says the claim of responsibility is credible. |
| Mark Lowen, BBC correspondent in Istanbul: | |
| The shadowy Revolutionary People's Liberation Front, or DKHP-C, has grown over the past 30 years. | |
| Marxist in ideology, it is a home-grown organisation, fiercely anti-Western, and has frequently targeted military and political figures in Turkey, hitting out at what it calls "imperialist control" of the country. | |
| In the 1980s and 1990s it focused on assassinations. From the 2000s, it added suicide bombings to its repertoire, hitting police and, in 2013, the US embassy in Ankara. | |
| It is not the only domestic group here with the "terrorist" label. Most notably the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which rose during the same period as DKHP-C, resorted to a campaign of bombings and assassinations, striving for a Kurdish state or greater autonomy within Turkey and an end to the repression of Kurds. | |
| The two organisations are not linked, though their similar tactics reveal the depth of the security challenges Turkey continues to face. | |
| The DHKP-C statement said the motive was to protest at government corruption and avenge the death of a boy fatally injured by police. | |
| Berkin Elvan, 15, died last year from injuries sustained in anti-government protests in 2013. | |
| The statement referred to an AK Party-dominated parliamentary committee which voted on Monday not to send for trial four ministers accused of corruption. | |
| "The state that protects those who killed Berkin and those corrupt ministers is the same," it said. | |
| The Turkish state was based on "corruption, blood, exploitation and pillage", it said, adding: "we will demolish this order!" | |
| Last week's attack was on guards outside Dolmabahce Palace, near Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's offices. He is believed to have been absent when it happened. | Last week's attack was on guards outside Dolmabahce Palace, near Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's offices. He is believed to have been absent when it happened. |
| The radical left-wing, anti-Nato group has launched attacks since the 1980s. Turkey and its Western allies consider it a "terrorist" group. | |
| Governor Sahin said the woman bomber, dressed in a niqab, entered the Sultanahmet police station and told officers she had lost her wallet before detonating the bomb. | Governor Sahin said the woman bomber, dressed in a niqab, entered the Sultanahmet police station and told officers she had lost her wallet before detonating the bomb. |
| It comes at a time of increased tension in Turkey, following clashes between security forces and Kurds in the south-east, fuelled by the Kurdish battle against Islamists in northern Syria. | It comes at a time of increased tension in Turkey, following clashes between security forces and Kurds in the south-east, fuelled by the Kurdish battle against Islamists in northern Syria. |
| In recent years attention has focused mainly on Turkey's long-running conflict with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which wants self-rule for the Kurds. | In recent years attention has focused mainly on Turkey's long-running conflict with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which wants self-rule for the Kurds. |