Çatak ( ku, Şax, hy, Շատախ ''Šatax'') is a district of

Van Province Van Province ( tr, Van ili, ku, Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,035,418 at ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, near the border with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. As mayor Abdurrahman Şeylan from the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP) was elected in the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

in March 2019, Ekrem Çeçen is the current Kaymakam. Two people were killed in a bomb explosion at an outdoor cafe in south-east Turkey, police stated on September 4, 2006. It followed a series of bombings in the last week of August 2006, at Turkish resorts and in Istanbul, that killed at least three people. A separatist militant group, the

Kurdistan Freedom Hawks The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks or TAK ( ku, Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan), is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkish Kurdistan (eastern and southeastern Turkey). The group also opposes the Tu ...

(TAK), has said it carried out those attacks. Its website warned on August 29, 2006 that it would turn "Turkey into hell". The group, which is said to be linked to the outlawed

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK), called on foreign tourists not to travel to the country. Turkish media said a remote-controlled bomb in Çatak was detonated as police arrived to investigate a suspicious package. One of the two people killed was a

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officer, the state-run

Anadolu Agency Anadolu Agency ( tr, Anadolu Ajansı, ; abbreviated AA) is a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. History The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence by the order of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. As ...

reported. A local official said the bomb had been placed in a rubbish bin.

References

Towns in Turkey Populated places in Van Province Districts of Van Province Kurdish settlements in Turkey {{Van-geo-stub