Western Turkey cafe blast injures 15--sources

IZMIR, Turkey, Oct 2 (Reuters) At least 15 people were injured today evening by an explosion at a cafe in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, hospital sources told Reuters.

It was not immediate clearly whether the blast at the Alsancak cafe was caused by a bomb.

The injured were rushed to three hospitals, where sources said a total of 15 people had been admitted suffering injuries from the blast. A police official said he could confirm seven people had been injured.

The explosion comes a day after the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched a unilateral ceasefire in its 22-year conflict with the Turkish state.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an independent Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey.

Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit earlier in the day dismissed the PKK ceasefire as meaningless, saying only warring states could declare a ceasefire.

He said the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Europe and Turkey, should unconditionally lay down its arms and deliver itself to Turkish justice.

Far-left and Islamist groups have also carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.

REUTERS SK BD2236