PKK-affiliate claims responsibility for chemical factory fire in Istanbul

A PKK terror organisation-linked group has claimed responsibility for a fire at a polyurethane chemical factory in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul. 

Calling itself "The United Revolutionary Movement of Peoples," the group said it had carried out the sabotage at the factory on September 18.

In the statement it published on a pro-PKK website, the group said that it had targeted the factory because it was producing chemicals, military camouflages and many other things that supported the Turkish government and the army.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU – has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The PKK is the parent organisation that goes by different names in different countries, such as the PJAK in Iran, PCDK in Iraq and the PYD in Syria. 

Forest fires by PKK-affiliate 

In late August, the Children of the Fire Initiative, a group affiliated with the PKK terror organisation, said they had started 27 separate fires in western metropolitan cities between July 11 and August 24, destroying hundreds of hectares of forests, some of which also engulfed government institution buildings. 

The group said that the attacks were a response to Turkey’s counter-terror operations and trustee appointments in the country’s southeast region.

Turkey's Interior Ministry dismissed the mayors of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van provinces –  Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli, Ahmet Turk and Bedia Ozgokce Ertan – for supporting terrorism, all of whom are members of the opposition HDP, which is known for having links to the PKK.