Suspect Denies Any Involvement In Diyarbakır Bomb Attack

A suspect in the bomb attack on an election rally that took place in Diyarbakır on June 5, just two days before the general election, denied any involvement in the incident, during a recent meeting with a delegation from the main opposition party, the Hürriyet daily reported on Friday.

A delegation led by Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Veli Ağbaba recently visited Diyarbakır bombing suspect Orhan Gönder, who is being held in Sincan Prison on charges of placing the bomb at the rally. Önder was quoted as denying any involvement in the bombing attack, according to the news report. During the meeting, Önder also denied that he had any ties with radical terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Speaking to Hürriyet, Ağbaba also noted that prior to visiting Önder, the delegation -- consisting of Ağbaba, lawyer Şenal Sarıhan and CHP deputies Necati Yılmaz and Utku Çakırözer -- met with relatives of Önder in the southeastern province of Adıyaman because Önder had previously told his mother during a conversation in prison that he was not involved in the attack.

Ağbaba stated that the suspect's mother said the family had told the police and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) several times about the possibility that their son had joined ISIL after he disappeared months before the Diyarbakır bombing. The family told the delegation that their son was being monitored by MİT and the government, the report stated.

Ağbaba added that the delegation will prepare a report regarding the content of the meeting and their observations. The delegation also recently visited Samanyolu Broadcasting Group CEO Hidayet Karaca and outspoken journalist Mehmet Baransu, who have been held in Silivri Prison for months due to their anti-government stance.

Two explosions, designed to undermine the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) performance in the June 7 general election, tore through an HDP rally in Diyarbakır, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish Southeast, in early June. Four people died and more than 100 were wounded in the incident.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)