More skulls found at Turkey site

ICKALE, Turkey, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Excavations in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir have unearthed four more skulls, bringing the total to 23, officials say.

The four skulls were discovered Wednesday in Diyarbakır's historic Ickale neighborhood, which had been the location of the headquarters of Gendarmerie Intelligence and Fight against Terrorism, Today's Zaman reported. The clandestine intelligence organization, referred to as JITEM, is believed to be responsible for thousands of unsolved killings in eastern and southeastern parts of the country during the 1990s, the report said.

Today's Zaman newspaper reported this week hundreds of people were tortured at JITEM headquarters, and Ickale was known to be one of the group's execution sites. But in 1999, most parts of the neighborhood were handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and excavations for human remains were prohibited because it was considered a historic site.

Skulls and bone fragments were first discovered last week by laborers laying pipes.

Skulls and bone fragments unearthed last week have been taken to the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul, where DNA tests will be carried out. Blood samples will then be taken from relatives of people missing in southeast Turkey to try to identify the bodies.