A car bombing blamed on Kurdish militants in the Turkish city of Izmir has killed at least two people and triggered a deadly shootout, as authorities chased the fugitive killer behind the New Year attack in Istanbul.
Turkey is on edge after the shooting rampage at the Reina nightclub unleashed shortly after revellers rang in 2017 which killed 39 people and was claimed by the so-called Islamic State group.
A top official said the gunman may be a Turkic Uighur and several people of Uighur origin were arrested earlier.
Just four days after the nightclub carnage, a car bomb exploded outside a courthouse in the Aegean city of Izmir this afternoon, with authorities blaming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
State-run Anadolu news agency said a policeman and a court worker, reportedly a bailiff, were killed.
Police battled "terrorists" in a clash which saw two militants killed while another escaped and is now being pursued.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said a much larger attack was apparently being planned, based on the weapons found at the scene.
"Based on the preparation, the weapons, bombs and ammunition seized, it is understood that a big atrocity was being planned," Mr Kaynak told reporters.
He said the attack would not stop Turkey's military involvement in Syria and Iraq.
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Izmir is a usually peaceful port city, Turkey's third largest metropolis, and the gateway to the plush beach resorts of the Aegean.
There has so far been no claim of responsibility for the latest bombing after a year of bloodshed in the Muslim-majority NATO member.
But Izmir governor Erol Ayyildiz said that initial evidence suggested the PKK - which has fought a deadly insurgency for over three decades - was behind the attack, rather than IS.
He said police tried to stop the car before it exploded and the "terrorists" then sought to escape as the explosion went off and the gunfight began. Up to seven people were wounded, he added.
Usually calm Izmir lies well to the west of the PKK's main theatre of operations in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of the country.
Turkish authorities meanwhile were seeking to close in on the Istanbul club attacker, who slipped into the night after firing 120 bullets at partygoers celebrating New Year.
Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Morocco.
A top official said the attacker was likely a Turkic Uighur and reports have indicated the authorities are looking into the possible existence of a cell, also including other jihadists from Central Asia.
IS took responsibility for the massacre in a statement on Monday, the first time it has issued a clear and undisputed claim for a major attack inside Turkey.
The extremist group said it was a response to Turkey's military operation against the jihadists in northern Syria, where Turkish armed forces are supporting opposition fighters retaking territory from IS.
Families detained in Izmir
Special forces detained several people of Uighur origin suspected of links with the Istanbul attack on the outskirts of the city earlier, Anadolu said.
Excluding the latest arrests, at least 36 had been detained in the probe by yesterday.
Authorities had on Tuesday detained 20 adults - along with 20 of their children - from three families in Izmir. There was no indication of any link to the bombing in the city.
Those held had moved to Izmir on 10 December from the central city of Konya, where they are suspected of having been in touch with the killer during his stay there.
Police are investigating possible links to IS of the suspects, who include Uighurs, Kyrgyz citizens and suspects from the Russian Caucasus region of Dagestan.
The latest attack comes after Turkey suffered a bloody year in 2016 when multiple bombings blamed on Kurdish militants and IS jihadists killed hundreds of people.
Turkey jails two troops for life in first coup bid verdict
Separately, a Turkish court has sentenced two army officers to life in jail over their roles in the failed July coup, the first verdicts to be handed out in the biggest legal process in the country's history.
The colonel and major were deployed with the gendarmerie, which was then part of the army, in the northeastern city of Erzurum, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
They were charged with violating the constitution. After the coup, the gendarmerie was brought within the control of the interior ministry.
Turkey blames the attempted putsch on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and has embarked on a relentless purge to eradicate his influence from public life. Gulen denies the charges.
Turkey's parliament on Tuesday approved a government-backed motion to extend by another three months the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the 15 July attempt to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the latest figures published by Anadolu, more than 41,000 people have been arrested over suspected links to Gulen within the state of emergency.
With a record number of suspects behind bars, the trials are only now getting under way and are expected to last for months.
Twenty-nine Turkish police officers went on trial on 29 December in Istanbul accused of failing to defend Mr Erdogan during the failed coup, the first such case in the city.
