Terror Group Claims Bombings

A shadowy terrorist group calling itself the Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK) is claiming that it is responsible for the bombings in Turkish resort areas. This fits a pattern attributed to the group of attacking tourist destinations.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, which has threatened to harm the country's tourism industry, said on its Web site that it carried out the attack Monday and vowed that the "fear of death will reign everywhere in Turkey."

The same group has taken responsibility for a Sunday bus bombing that injured 10 Britons and 11 Turks in Marmaris, another Mediterranean resort town.

Attacks on the tourism industry are very sensitive in Turkey and authorities would not immediately confirm that the attack in Antalya was the result of a bomb attack. But the Milliyet newspaper and other reports said police had drawn up sketches of two suspects from descriptions of men seen fleeing the scene, suggesting that the explosion was the result of a bomb.

Last year, 21 million tourists visited Turkey, which brought in some $18 billion in revenue.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons is a small militant group believed to be an offshoot of the much larger Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

Here's the problem with this group. They appeared out of nowhere in 2004. Although there are a lot of people who suspect they are part of the PKK, there is no proof whatsoever and the PKK denies the TAK is affiliated in any way. (Not an unusual response, but still interesting). The TAK also uses radically different strategy than the PKK by all accounts.

So, if you wanted to stir up trouble in a neighboring country for your own ends, would you be willing to fund a group to act as agents provocateurs? I bet you would.