Duo targeting Turkish parliament appear in court

ANKARA

A man and woman arrested for being members of the extreme-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) appeared in court Wednesday over a hostage-taking attempt at parliament.

Mulla Zincir and Eylem Yucel were taken into custody following an investigation at the Ankara police department and were formally arrested for being members of an armed terrorist organization.

On May 14, the duo arrived at the parliament building and said they were paying a visit to Mahmut Tanal, Istanbul Deputy of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), who had reportedly invited them.

They were taken to a waiting room and during security checks attempted to take a staff member hostage with a razor blade taped to a pencil but were quickly subdued by security guards.

Police also discovered a black box designed to look like a bomb set-up while searching them.

The suspects were taken to the Turkish police’s counter-terror department for an investigation.

The DHKP-C -- listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including an attack in 2013 on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara which martyred a Turkish security guard and the 1996 murder of businessman Ozdemir Sabanci.

*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic