Illegal leftist group members arrested at Turkish parliament

Security personnel foiled an attempted attack on the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on Tuesday, Turkish authorities have reported.

A man and a woman reportedly linked to the outlawed far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-/) were stopped as the attempted to enter the Turkish parliament’s visitor’s lobby, Turkey’s pro-government outlet NTV reported.

Their links to the DHKP/C were discovered when security personnel examined the pair’s identity cards, and a brawl broke out when security attempted to search them, said NTV.

Two security guards were reportedly injured by a sharp object during the melee.

After the pair were subdued, security found a black box described as being disguised as a bomb, and a knife fixed to the top of a pencil, NTV reported.

Both suspects reportedly have criminal records including charges for terror links.

The DHKP-C, which Turkey includes on its list of terrorist organisations, has a history of carrying out attacks and assassinations in Turkey since the 1980s.

In 2015, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing attack on a Turkish police station which killed one police officer. In the same year, two suspected members of the group held prosecutors hostage in an Istanbul court, fatally wounding a prosecutor when police stormed the court.

In August, 2015, the group carried out four attacks in Istanbul, killing one police officer and injuring dozens.