Two Police Officers Shot Dead In Southern Turkey

The shooting took place in Ceylanpinar, near the Syrian border, in the same province where 32 pro-Kurdish activists were killed in a bombing on Monday. The outlawed Kurdish PKK has claimed responsibility.

By
Francis Whittaker
by Francis Whittaker

BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

Two police officers were shot dead in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar, close to the Syrian border, on Wednesday, the regional governor said.

Emrah Gurel / AP

Turkish security forces wait outside the building where the officers were shot in Ceylanpinar.

The town is in Sanliurfa — the same province as Suruc, where 32 activists were killed in a bomb attack Monday. Suruc is about 100 miles away from Ceylanpinar.

Izzetin Kucuk, the region's governor, said the two officers died of bullet wounds, adding, "We don't yet know if there is a terrorist link," the BBC reported.

However, a short while later, the military wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) said it carried out the attack as a reprisal for the Suruc bombing, saying the officers cooperated with jihadis, Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported.

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MORE: Here is the official statement released by the PKK on the execution of two #Turkish police

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"A punitive action was carried out ... in revenge for the massacre in Suruç," the statement read, according to Hurriyet.

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