Weather
Man convicted of killing five people in Turkey resort bomb blast (From The Northern Echo)
Send us your pictures, video, news and views by texting NORTHERN ECHO to 80360 or email us
Man convicted of killing five people in Turkey resort bomb blast
9:30am Wednesday 30th December 2009
A TERRORIST will end his life in prison after he was today convicted of planting a bomb in Turkey which killed five people, including a County Durham woman.
Mehmet Sirac Keskin was today found guilty of causing the fatal blast on a bus in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi, in July 2005.
Among the five people killed was 21-year-old trainee chef, Helyn Bennett, of Spennymoor. Several members of her family were injured.
Keskin, a member of the PKK terrorist organisation, was sentenced to six life sentences- one for the murder of each victim and one for attempting the separate a piece of land from the sovereignty of state.
The criminal court in Izmir also sentenced him to 161 years, one month and ten days in jail for related charges including being a member of an outlawed organisation, injuring 15 others in the blast and handling explosives.
For the full story read The Northern Echo tomorrow.
More News stories
- Sunderland match day programme voted country's best
- Man arrested after spending more than three hours on house roof
- Drug dealer threw cash out of window as police raided home, court told
- Public urged to be on lookout for missing Crook man's car
- Report reveals how sex offender assaulted young girl
- Health Secretary approves £464m hospital for region
- Miles ahead
- Investigations continue into elderley woman's death
- ‘Everything is in place, we have the perfect storm’
Your Say YourNorth-East
Hevallo Azad, London says...
11:23pm Wed 30 Dec 09
Over 80 democratically elected Kurdish representatives of the Kurdish population in Turkey (20-25 million) were detained over christmas. Shackled in handcuffs many of them face 'terrorism' charges.
These things go on in Turkey against the Kurds without any mention in the media.
No wonder then when faced with cut cost holidays many English people go on holiday to one of the world's worst human rights abusers without any knowledge of whats happening to it's citizens.
Please google Hevallo for more on Turkey and The Kurdish Question.
Helyn's parents Tom and Sharon Holdon pictured with her boyfriend Stephen Stables. All three survived the bomb blast
Helyn Bennett
The aftermath of the bomb blast on the bus
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Hevallo Azad, London says...
11:12pm Wed 30 Dec 09
The PKK never claimed responsibility for this attack. They would normally do that. Tens of thousands of innocent Kurds are incarcerated in Turkish prisons, mostly for their Kurdish identity. The Turkish military intelligence regularly carry out atrocities and blame it on the PKK.
I believe if UK people knew the extent of suppression against the Kurdish civilian population in Turkey they would never go there on holiday in the first place. I sincerely mourn for Helyn Bennet and send deepest condolences to the family. I only wish the media reported more on the human rights situation in Turkey's 'paradise preserved' then many people would not go there.