In a statement posted on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) said Saturday's attack in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir was a response to the government's treatment of its Kurdish minority and warned of fresh attacks.

"We will pursue our heroic struggle against the fascist Turkish state and its institutions which insist on their dirty policies against the valiant Kurdish people," the statement said.

A 54-year-old man sustained slight injuries and several buildings were damaged in the blast, which police said was caused by plastic explosives loaded onto a street vendor's cart and tied to gas canisters.

Witnesses quoted by the NTV news channel said unidentified assailants rolled the cart down a hill towards the police building, but the cart hit a parked van before reaching the building and exploded.

TAK has also claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul in January which killed one person and injured 30.

Turkish officials say TAK is a cover group for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) although the PKK denies any link.

About 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK, blacklisted by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Tension has escalated in the southeast since June 2004 when the group called off a unilateral ceasefire.