18 Turks Killed In Earthquake, 6 In Car Bomb

The majority of the some 700 inhabitants had left the village to take their animals to summer pastures, the governor said.

Otherwise the toll would have been much higher, he added.

The army sent rescue teams to the region, and Red Crescent workers were also dispatched. Some 40 tents have been set up to accommodate survivors.

Turkey is crossed by several major fault lines, and earthquakes are a frequent occurrence.

The worst in recent years was in August and September 1999, when two quakes, one measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck northwestern Turkey and southeastern Greece, killing more than 20,000 people.

The worst tremor in modern times was in December 1939, when a 7.9 quake struck eastern Turkey , leaving some 45,000 people dead.

Car Bombing

Meanwhile, a car bomb ripped through a street in Van in an apparent attack on the local governor, Hikmet Tan.

The death toll rose to six dead and 23 injured, a spokesperson for the governor’s office told AFP.

The earlier toll had stood at five killed and 24 injured.

Tan, who escaped injured, told reporters his car was badly damaged in the blast in the city of Van , some 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the Iranian border.

He recalled that his police escort managed to speed away from the downtown area where the attack occurred.

"According to the information we have, the bomb which exploded in a car soon after the governor’s car passed by was remote-controlled," Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu told Anatolia news agency.

"As a result of this explosion, the car which contained the bomb was torn apart, two cars nearby were damaged and there is also damage to the windows and body of the governor’s car," he said.

"This attack is aimed at disturbing the atmosphere of peace, order and security in our country. But everyone should stay assured that the atmosphere of peace will continue," he added.

Kurds Fingered

"Our impression is that the attack was carried out by the PKK", the Kurdish rebels of the former Kurdistan People’s Party (PKK), renamed Kongra-Gel, police spokesman Ramazan Er told a press conference in Ankara.

A year ago, Kurdish rebels attempted to ambush another Turkish governor, on a mountain road in Tunceli province.

Two soldiers in the leading escort vehicle were killed in the exchange of gunfire.

However, Four Kurdish rights activists and former members of parliament, recently released from prison, condemned the Friday’s attack in a statement sent to AFP.

"We condemn the attack… and extend our condolences to the victims," said the statement issued by Leyna Zana and three other former MPs released last month after 10 years in jail for alleged links with the PKK, pending an appeal of their case.

The PKK led a 15-year armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey ‘s southeast until 1999 when it announced a unilateral truce following the capture of its leader Abdulah Ocalan.

The fighting had left some 37,000 dead, most of them Kurds.

On June 1 the group cancelled its truce, saying it had become meaningless because of what it said were "annihilation operations" by Turkish security forces against its fighters.

Clashes in Turkey ‘s southeast have since sharply increased.

The latest attack by suspected rebels killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded another three when rebels set off a mine on a road in Van province on Monday.

The Turkish government has repeatedly called on the United States to intervene against former PKK rebels entrenched in mountainous bases in northern Iraq, but Washington, which has included the group on its terrorist list, has declined to do so, citing more pressing security concerns in Iraq.