Turkey’s military launched airstrikes on Kurdish militant positions in northern Iraq and Syria on Wednesday after a deadly attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TUSAS, in Ankara, reported AP.
The strike targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, who are believed to be responsible for the attack at the state-run aerospace and defence facility in the Turkish capital earlier in the day. The Turkish Defence Ministry said it destroyed around 30 militant sites.
The attack on TUSAS, which designs and manufactures civilian and military aircraft, left five dead and over 20 injured, including seven security personnel. The assailants, a man and a woman, carried out the assault using explosives and firearms before being killed by security forces.
One of the victims, a mechanical engineer, was identified as Zahide Guclu, who had been at the entrance to collect flowers sent by her husband. The attackers also killed a taxi driver who brought them to the site and hid his body in the trunk of the vehicle.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya attributed the attack to “these PKK scoundrels” and said that they would continue to be pursued. Turkey regularly conducts airstrikes against the PKK, which operates from Iraq, and affiliated Kurdish militia groups in Syria.
The assault took place amid heightened tensions and discussions about potential negotiations with the PKK’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
The far-right nationalist party, allied with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had suggested the possibility of releasing Ocalan if he renounced violence and disbanded his organisation.
Ocalan’s PKK has waged an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.
The attack at the defence facility drew condemnation from international leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Erdogan, meeting with Putin at the 16th BRICS summit in Russia, denounced the “heinous terrorist attack.” Condolences also came from Greece, Iraq and other countries.
The PKK has not released a statement regarding the incident, and authorities have imposed a temporary media blackout. In response to the attack, security measures have been heightened across sensitive locations in Turkey.
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