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Turkish Man Sentenced To 53 Life Terms For 2013 Bombing Attack


People sift through the debris on May 12, 2013, the day after a car bomb exploded in Reyhanli, just a few kilometers from the main border crossing into Syria.
People sift through the debris on May 12, 2013, the day after a car bomb exploded in Reyhanli, just a few kilometers from the main border crossing into Syria.

A Turkish man has been given 53 life sentences for a 2013 bombing that killed dozens of people near the border with Syria, Turkish state-run media reported.

The Anadolu news agency on February 23 said Nasir Eskiocak was sentenced to one life term for each of the 53 people killed in the twin car bombings in the town of Reyhanli in Turkey's southern Hatay Province.

The media reports did not indicate if other suspects were being sought or were in custody.

Prosecutors said Eskiocak was the mastermind of the May 11, 2013, attack, which Ankara blamed on groups supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Damascus denied any involvement in the attack, one of the deadliest incidents of Syria's nearly seven-year-old civil war spilling into Turkey.

Turkey and the United States back rebel groups fighting to topple Assad, while Russia and Iran have intervened to support the Syrian president.

Based on reporting by Anadolu, AFP, dpa, and YeniSafak

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