Kurdistan Freedom Falcons - Attacks

Attacks

TAK has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against businesses and government and legal institutions since 2004. Its earliest attacks were small, non-lethal bombings in public places which the group described as “warning actions.” These warnings, however, had become deadly by the summer of 2005.

• 20 people were injured when a bomb exploded at Cesme, a coastal resort town on July 10, 2005.
• Less than one week later, five people were killed and more than a dozen wounded when a bus was blown up in the seaside town of Kuşadası.

This type of attack against a tourist target is perhaps the signature tactic of TAK. The group uses terrorism to discourage tourism in Turkey by attacking targets such as hotels and ATMs. TAK claims to have no desire to kill foreigners, only that it wishes to cut off a key source of revenue for the Turkish government.

• In 2006 the groups attacks continued, including a failed plot to attack a bus carrying legal officials on April 12, 2006. Five of the group's members were arrested when the plot was broken up.
• The group also claimed responsibility for an April 5, 2006 attack on a district office of the Justice and Development Party in Istanbul.
• In March, one person was killed and thirteen injured when TAK detonated a bomb near a bus station in Istanbul.
• On August 28, 2006, The Kurdish Freedom Falcons attacked the resort area of Marmaris with three explosions, at least two of which bombs were hidden in garbage cans. In the resort city of Antalya, 20 were injured when another explosion went off and 3 were killed. A final bomb detonated in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul where more than 20 people were injured. A separate attack is claimed to have been stopped in the port city of İzmir when a raid turned up plastic explosives. The groups website states the rash of attacks are revenge for the imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the figurehead for the armed Kurdish nationalist movement.

• On August 30, 2006, the town of Mersin was attacked via a bomb planted in a rubbish container on Inonu street, one person was injured. The bombing is believed to be linked to the recent attacks by TAK, however they have not claimed responsibility.

• In June 2010, they blew up a military bus in Istanbul, killing four people including 3 soldiers and a 17-year-old girl. This was received by observers as a "resumption of guerrilla warfare" which "brings to a final end an unofficial truce between the PKK and the government, which last year launched an initiative giving Kurds greater civil rights."

• On October 31, 2010, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing the perpetrator and resulting in 32 injuries, 15 of whom were police officers.The bombing is believed to be linked to TAK, however they have not claimed responsibility.

• September 20, 2011 3 people died and 34 people were injured in a bomb attack in Ankara. Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed the attack.