ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for this week’s attack in the Turkish city of Van, saying it had killed 18 police and security forces and wounded 30 workers of the Turkish ruling party. In a statement posted on the website of its armed wing, HPG, the PKK said that Monday’s attack was in response to “the killing of youths in Van” and the appointment of new trustees in place of ousted elected mayors “against the will of the people.” Shortly after the attack, the governor of Van had said it had targeted the offices of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), wounding 53 people, including four policemen and four Iranian citizens. The PKK claim, posted Tuesday, did not mention civilian casualties. It said “the majority of the casualties” were among the security forces and AKP workers. The attack came hours before the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, made a call for peace with Turkey in a message through his brother. Ocalan urged a peaceful solution to Turkey’s four-decade war with the Turkish state. He said there would be no winner in this war, even if the conflict “continued for another eighty years."
