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Turkish police foil planned PKK attack on OIC summit in Istanbul

ANKARA, Dec 15 (KUNA) -- Turkey's police thwarted a planned attack by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul on Wednesday, local media said on Friday.
Police last Wednesday found a minibus filled with 60 kilograms of explosives in Istanbul's Bahcelievler district and launched an investigation while detaining at least 11 suspects, Hurriyet Daily News, a Turkish daily, reported.
The National Intelligence Agency (MIT) branch in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir noticed increased activities between PKK militants whose memebr was in contact with a person who bought a minibus in Istanbul, the daily said.
Anti-riot police officers and intelligence then determined that the person in contact with a PKK militants in Diyarbakir bought a minibus in Istanbul, which was subsequently monitored by intelligence units.
Police and intelligence tracked the whereabouts of the vehicle by monitoring surveillance cameras and using technical means.
The security authorities detained two people in the site, it said, adding that they uncovered that the explosives founded in the minibus were the same used in an a suicide attack in Istanbul in December, 2016 that killed 46 people, the daily made clear.
The explosives were smuggled from northern Iraq and carried on the vehicle in southeastern Turkey, it concluded. (end) rs.hm