REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused Kurdish militants of being behind a car bomb attack on a bus carrying off-duty military personnel that killed 13 soldiers in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, Hurriyet News reported. "The separatist terrorist organization was responsible for the attack," Erdogan said in a statement, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which wants autonomy for the Kurdish minority.

The PKK is considered a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Turkey. "Such attacks were not independent of developments in Iraq and Syria," Erdogan said.

Saturday's attack also left 55 others wounded, according to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that Turkey will redouble its efforts to fight militancy. "We will fight these cowards with a national mobilization," he tweeted.

The blast came a week after a twin bombing outside an Istanbul soccer stadium killed 44 people and wounded more than 100, in an attack claimed by the offshoot of outlawed PKK militants.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika