Police detain 2 PKK affiliated suspects over tweets sent prior to Ankara bombing
by Daily Sabah with AA
ISTANBULOct 14, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AA
Oct 14, 2015 12:00 am
Police detained two suspects affiliated with the PKK terrorist organization on Wednesday over Twitter accounts that sent tweets implying a bomb attack prior to the Oct. 10 Ankara bombing.
The account @DrBereday tweeted: "The bomb will explode in Ankara!" nine hours prior to the bombing.
The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the suspicious messages sent on the social media website and requested detailed information on the accounts.
The official identified the men to Anadolu Agency as Erhan O. and Mehmet Serhat Polatsoy and claimed they were behind an account named DrBereday, which also tweeted messages such as "What if ISIL blows up?!" and warned there could be an "intervention" at the rally by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
According to the source, Erhan O. was born in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır. He is said to have taken part in PKK attacks and has been arrested twice before.
He accessed the account using a mobile phone registered in the name of a family member, the source added. The relevance of the name of the account, which had been active since 2012 until it was deactivated Saturday, was not immediately clear.
Polatsoy is said to have been born in Suruç in the province of Şanlıurfa and is alleged to have worked online for the PKK terror organization.
According to the source, he was arrested on May 13 in Şanlıurfa in an operation where explosives were seized. He is said to have been held in custody between 2013 and 2014 and received explosives training in the Syrian town of Kobani, where the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed branch People's Protection Units (YPG) clashed with ISIS in October 2014.
The source also claimed Polatsoy became a deputy candidate nominee from his hometown in the June 7 general elections.
The arrests were carried out after Twitter shared details about the account's Internet protocol.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.