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Sunday, December 11

"Kurdish Freedom Falcons" Militants Claim Responsibility for Istanbul Attack

17:55 11.12.2016 (updated 17:56 11.12.2016) 
Sputnik


According to a statement published on the group's website, TAK, or the Kurdish Freedom Falcons, have claimed responsibility for the deadly attack Istanbul.

The statement called the attack an "act of vengeance." On Saturday night, two bombs exploded at a short interval near the Vodafone Arena Stadium killing 38 and injuring 155 people. 

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

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Have you heard of this group before? Neither have I. So little time, so many militant groups. 

From Wikipedia:

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (Kurdish: Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan, TAK‎, Turkish: Kürdistan Özgürlük Şahinleri) also known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks and the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks,[3][4] is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in eastern and southeastern Turkey. The group also opposes the Turkish government’s policies towards its ethnic Kurdish citizens.

The group presents itself as a break-away faction of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in open dissent with the PKK's readiness to compromise with the Turkish state. Analysts disagree on whether or not the two groups are in reality still linked.[5]

The group first appeared in August 2004, just weeks after the PKK called off the 1999 truce, assuming responsibility for two hotel bombings in Istanbul which claimed two victims.[6]

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