Pro-Kurdish party presses PM over ‘IS attack from Turkey’ claims

ISTANBUL — Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party on Sunday pressed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over whether a probe had been launched into claims that an attack by jihadists on a border post had been launched from Turkish soil.

The Turkish army on Saturday confirmed Islamic State (IS) jihadists had staged an attack at the Mursitpinar border post close to the Syrian town of Kobani but strenuously denied that the car involved in the strike had come from its territory.

"Has any investigation been launched yet into the allegations that an explosive-laden car, said to be coming from Turkey, exploded as it crossed into Kobani from the Mursitpinar border post?" People's Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Faysal Sariyildiz said in a written parliamentary question to Davutoglu.

Some pro-Kurdish media said earlier that a suicide attack had been staged by a vehicle that had arrived from Turkish territory, raising new questions about Turkey's commitment to fight IS.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, one suicide attacker blew up an explosive-packed car and another detonated a suicide-bomb belt.

The HDP lawmaker also demanded answers on claims that border villages evacuated by the state ostensibly for security reasons were "actually evacuated to facilitate the transition" of IS militants.

He also asked whether it was a coincidence that the attack came on the same day a delegation of HDP lawmakers held a rare meeting with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan on his prison island on the Sea of Marmara.

Turkey has long been accused of encouraging the rise of IS and even collaborating with the group, as well as not doing enough to stop jihadists passing through its borders.

Turkish officials point to the fact that Ankara has listed IS as a terror group and insist everything is being done to stop the flow of jihadists across borders.