Alleged plot to kill Turkish district governor foiled

By Hasan Namli

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - A PKK suspect allegedly plotting to kill a district governor in southeast Turkey has been killed in a gunfight with police, a police official said Thursday.

The man, identified by the initials S.T., was reportedly preparing to assassinate Mustafa Kilic, the governor and acting mayor of Kayapinar district in Diyarbakir province, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

S.T. was killed during a police raid on his home address in the Yenisehir neighborhood of the provincial capital after he refused to surrender and opened fire on police, the official added.

Two other suspects have been detained in connection with the plot, Diyarbakir provincial governor's office said in a statement.

The former district mayor of Kayapinar was dismissed in December by the interior ministry and taken into custody on a charge of PKK membership.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

More than 1,100 people, including in excess of 800 security personnel and 300 civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks since then. Around 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended over the same period.