2005 Kuşadası bus bombing

Infobox terrorist attack
title=Kuşadası bus bombing
location=Kuşadası, Turkey
target=Civilian passenger/tourist minibus
date=16 July 2005
time=
timezone=
type=Bombing
fatalities=5
injuries=14
perps=

The Kuşadası minibus bombing occurred on July 16 2005, when a minibus carrying locals and tourists to the town's famous "Ladies Beach" exploded in Kuşadası, Turkey.

The blast came six days after a bombing in the nearby town of Çeşme, which had left at least 20 people injured. [cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4688575.stm News:|title=Turkish resort blast kills five |publisher=BBC News|Date=2006-16-7|language=English] Two months earlier, on 30 April, a police officer, chief superintendent Yaşar Aykaç, had lost his life while he was trying to defuse a bomb placed in a plastic bag in a Kuşadası town square.

The Kurdish rebel group PKK was initially suspected of carrying out the bombing but they denied being involved in the attack, although the bombing is believed to be associated to the Turkey-PKK conflict [cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4691755.stm News:|title=Kurds 'deny' Turkey resort bomb|publisher=BBC News|Date=2006-16-7|language=English] .

A suspect was arrested in İstanbul on 8 April 2006.

Victims

Five people were killed in the blast. These included three Turkish nationals: Deniz Tutum (21), a native of Kuşadası whose funeral was also held in the town, Eda Okyay and Ufuk Yücedeniz, both 23 and fiancées on a weekend excursion from İzmir, and two tourists: Helen Bennett (23), of Durham in England and Tara Whelan (17), of Waterford in Ireland. [cite web| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/18/turkey.blast/index.html News: | title=Tributes for Turkish blast victims|publisher=CNN|Date=2005-7-18|language=English] [ The Irish Tara Whelan should not be confused with the British Telecom engineer Tara Whelan, who died in a telegraph pole accident in Bristol in May 2001 and who made the headlines during the ensuing prosecution brought against her employer by the CWU and the verdict pronounced in 2006. cite web| url = http://www.cwu-ccc.org/hse/tara_whelan_bt_trial.html News:|title= BT Cleared Over Death of Engineer Tara Whelan|publisher=CWU|date=2006-11-13|language=English] . A total of fourteen people were injured, eight Turks and six British tourists. Seven people, including all but one of the British citizens, had their conditions judged serious enough to be transported to Ege University hospital in İzmir [cite web|url= http://ya2005.yeniasir.com.tr/07/17/index.php3?kat=ana&sayfa=ilks2&bolum=gunluk News:| title=Terörün çirkin yüzü ("The ugly face of terror")|publisher=Yeni Asır, İzmir|Date=2005-7-18|language=Turkish] .

Tara Whelan's funeral in her hometown as well as the aftermath for all concerned was covered with particular emphasis by the national media in Ireland [cite web| url = http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0721/turkey.html News:|title=Funeral of bomb victim in County Waterford|publisher=RTE Ireland|date=2005-7-21|language=English] [cite web| url = http://archives.tcm.ie/waterfordnews/2006/07/12/story22490.asp News:|title=Life is empty for Whelan family without Tara|publisher=Waterford News and Star|date=2006-7-12|language=English]

External links

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References