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2 ruling party officials shot and killed in Turkey

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Turkey\'s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, centre, attends a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 1, 2017. (Presidency Press Service via AP, Pool)

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s official news agency says two ruling party officials serving in district organizations have been shot and killed, and ruling party officials blamed Kurdish militants.

The Anadolu news agency says Orhan Mercan, a vice-president of an AKP branch in the southeastern Diyarbakir province, died Saturday after being shot near his house. It says Aydin Ahi, who was serving as vice-president for a party branch in the eastern province of Van, was killed late Saturday.

AKP officials decried the slayings, which they blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Minister Omer Celik tweeted Sunday that “terror is attacking our nation’s “political” institution.”

A cease-fire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed in 2015, restarting a more than three-decade-long conflict that has left an estimated 40,000 people dead.

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Abbey Westbury

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