Explosion hits Turkish resort town

An apparent suicide bombing outside a gendarme station rocked Turkey’s popular Mediterranean resort of Antalya Friday afternoon, a local government official said.

The official from Antalya’s Goynuk municipality, where the explosion took place, said at least one person was lightly injured in the explosion. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Security forces cordoned off the area in the wake of the blast. Turkish television showed images of forensic workers picking through debris against Antalya’s stunning backdrop of palm trees and steep mountains.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion. A broad spectrum of ideological groups, including leftists, anarchists, fundamentalist Islamists and ultra-nationalists have carried out acts of political violence in the past in Turkey.

In recent months, Turkey has seen an increase in deadly attacks carried out by militants from the Kurdish separatist group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Most of the fighting has been centered in southeastern Turkey, where Kurdish rebels have battled Turkish security forces since the 1980s.

Last week, at least three people were killed in an explosion that targeted the heart of Ankara, the Turkish capital. A PKK-splinter faction known as the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons later claimed responsibility for the attack.

In September, Turkish warplanes launched a series of cross-border bombing raids against Kurdish rebel camps in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Still, after months of escalating ethnic tension and bloodshed, there is new hope for political dialogue. This week, lawmakers from the main Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), announced they would end their boycott of parliament.

After refusing to participate in a swearing in ceremony last June, Kurdish lawmakers are expected to attend a session of parliament Saturday.