Police detonate massive explosive in Diyarbakir

DIYARBAKIR

Security forces on Saturday safely detonated a massive homemade explosive in Diyarbakır province at the family cemetery of Mehdi Eker, the Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy chairman, the governorate said.

The Tepe District Gendarmerie Command station in the southeastern province discovered the 400-kilogram (880-pound) homemade explosive device that was placed by terrorists.

Eker said he would routinely visit the cemetery ahead of religious festivals, accompanied by "at least a hundred people".

“It appears that rather than myself or my family, hundreds of innocent people alongside me were the target," Eker said.

The attempted attack just two days before the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha will not deter Eker from visiting the cemetery just as he always does, he told reporters in Istanbul as he returned from a trip to the U.S.

Security forces also detonated a separate 240-kilogram (530-pound) homemade explosive near the cemetery.