Turkish police mourn officers

TURKISH security forces yesterday detained three suspects over the killing of two police officers claimed by Kurdish militants as revenge for a deadly suicide bombing blamed on jihadists.

The arrests came as the two officers – who were slain in their beds early on Wednesday while sleeping in their shared home in a town on the Syrian border – were laid to rest in an emotional ceremony.

The state Anatolia news agency said the three suspects had been arrested in early morning raids and were being questioned, without giving further details.

The military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had claimed the killings in the town of Ceylanpinar, accusing the two officers of collaborating with Islamic State (IS) extremists.

It described the attack as revenge for a suicide bombing in the mainly Kurdish town of Suruc on Monday that was blamed on IS jihadists and left 32 people dead.

The two police officers, aged 24 and 25, were given a funeral with full honours.

Turkish officials have confirmed a 20-year-old Turkish man linked to IS militants carried out the suicide bombing in Suruc.

Kurds have become increasingly frustrated with the government’s refusal to support Kurdish groups fighting IS jihadists inside the country.

There have been tense demonstrations in Istanbul and other cities in Turkey over the last days over the government’s Syria policy, with police intervening with water cannon and tear gas.

Kurdish separatists in Turkey waged a decadeslong insurgency for self-rule in the southeast that claimed tens of thousands of lives but declared a truce in 2013 that now looks fragile. — AFP