Blaze Engulfs Cargo Area of Istanbul Airport

A fire engulfed the cargo area at Istanbul’s airport Wednesday, causing millions of dollars in damage and injuring three people at a major hub for travel to the Middle East and Central Asia.

An extremist Kurdish faction claimed responsibility for the fire, saying it was in retaliation for Turkey’s “continued annihilation of the Kurdish people.” But officials discounted terrorism as the cause of the fire, saying it was probably sparked by a short circuit or a welder’s torch.

The fire, which broke out around noon, quickly engulfed the cargo area, prompting fears that it would spread to the main terminal. The three injured people were treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said.

Turkish TV showed huge black clouds billowing above the cargo facility even as commercial planes continued to take off. Aircraft were employed to douse the blaze as hundreds of firefighters battled it on the ground.

Ataturk International Airport lies 10 miles southwest of downtown Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, with a population of 10 million. The passenger terminal was not damaged.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed responsibility for the fire in a statement faxed to international media and said they would keep up attacks as long as Turkey continued what the group said were murderous policies against Kurds.

The Falcons are an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the rebel group that began an armed campaign in 1984. The PKK originally sought independence for the Kurdish areas of Turkey but later changed its goal to autonomy. More than 30,000 people have died in the fighting.

The Falcons have previously targeted Turkey’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry in a bid to force the government into negotiations. Tourism has been badly affected by the outbreak of bird flu last winter. The sector’s revenue was down 10% in the first quarter of 2006.

The government refuses to talk to the PKK, which is on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

Violence has been steadily escalating in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern region since June 2004. That is when the PKK ended a five-year unilateral truce it had declared after the capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in February 1999. The PKK said it was taking up arms again because of what it termed the government’s failure to negotiate a lasting peace.