Mass grave in Turkey likely from 1990s

ICKALE, Turkey, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Turkey's prime minister said Wednesday he suspects a mass grave uncovered recently was the work of a terrorist group.

Prime Minister Recep Tayvip Erdogan told a meeting of provincial governors it was likely the remains unearthed in Diyarbakir province had been buried in the 1990s by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK, or the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon.

"When the issue of remains being discovered underground in Diyarbakır is investigated, one side will point to Ergenekon and the other side to the PKK," Erdogan said.

About 30 skulls and other bones were unearthed in the past month at a construction site near a former prison and headquarters of the JITEM, a clandestine intelligence organization, in the town of Ickale.

Today's Zaman said Ickale was known to be a place where detainees were tortured and sometimes executed; however excavations had been previously banned because the location had been designated an historic site.