Marxist-Leninist Group Claims Attack on Istanbul Police Station

Two Attackers Killed, Two Police Slightly Wounded

The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) of Turkey, a Marxist-Leninist group that regularly launches attacks against police and embassies, has issued a statement today claiming credit for an attack on a police station in Istanbul, saying that the attackers were “brave female liberation fighters.”

The two women threw a hand grenade at the station, and both had guns, opening fire on the station. Two police were slightly wounded, and the women briefly fled into a nearby building, which was surrounded and in which they were killed.

This is the latest in a string of attacks by the DHKP-C, mostly in Istanbul, which reflects the group’s eagerness to continue launching such attacks, despite the group itself having relatively little influence in Turkey anymore.

Founded in 1978, the DHKP-C was originally called the Revolutionary Left, but changed its name after a split within the group. The group has been listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department since 1997, and the European Union since 2001.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.