ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The annual reception that marks the start of Turkey's parliamentary year has been canceled due to security concerns, Parliament's speaker announced Wednesday.
Cemil Cicek said he is canceling the Oct. 1 event because of the recent spike in terrorist attacks, Today's Zaman reported.
"Ceremonies for the start of the opening of the new legislative year will be held as planned, but the reception that was to be held in the evening has been canceled, Cicek said.
Attacks by the separatist Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK, have killed more than 40 Turkish security personnel in the past month.
In retaliation, Turkey's military launched a series of air raids on PKK targets in northern Iraq last week, the first strikes in more than a year.
