ANKARA: Two militants detonated a bomb in front of Turkish government buildings in Ankara on Sunday, leaving both of them dead and two police officers wounded, and a Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Authorities called it the first terrorist attack in the capital in years.

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a vehicle pulling up to the Interior Ministry’s main gate and one of its occupants quickly walking towards the building before being engulfed in an explosion, while the other remains on the street.

The blast killed one of the attackers and authorities “neutralised”, or killed, the other, the interior minister said of the incident that hit the central district, which is home to ministerial buildings and parliament.

Erdogan says the latest attempt to inflict terror on Turks won’t succeed

In a speech at the opening of a new parliamentary session hours later, President Tayyip Erdogan called the morning attack “the latest attempt” to inflict terror on Turks. “Those who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their goals and never will,” he said.

Turkiye’s parliament is expected to consider ratifying Sweden’s bid to join Nato in the coming weeks, after Turkiye had raised initial objections and delayed enlargement of the bloc.

Erdogan did not mention Sweden or Nato, but told members of parliament that agreeing a new constitution was a priority for the new session. The parliament speaker said its agenda would not surrender to terror.

European Council president Charles Michel strongly condemned what he called the terrorist attack, while EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said it supports Turkiye “in its fight against terrorism”.

Pakistan condemns attack

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, meanwhile, condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Turkiye.

On his X handle, the prime minister said: “We stand in complete solidarity with our Turkish brothers and sisters in the fight against the scourge of terrorism. I have no doubt that under the dynamic leadership of my brother (President Recep Tayyip Erdogan), the resolute Turkish nation will emerge ever stronger from this challenge.”

Separately, in a statement issued by the PM Office, Mr Kakar extended sympathies of the people of Pakistan to Turkiye.

PKK claims responsibility

The ANF News website, which is close to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, said a group called the ‘Immortals Battalion’ had carried out the attack, citing a PKK statement. It described the bombing as a ‘suicide attack’ planned to coincide with the opening of parliament and carried out by “a team of ours linked to our Immortals Battalion”.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union. It launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The bomb on Ataturk Boulevard was the first in Ankara since 2016, when a spate of deadly attacks gripped the country.

Turkish military ramps up air strikes in PKK bases

After the attempted terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkiye carried out air strikes in northern Iraq and destroyed 20 targets of outlawed Kurdish militant group, the Turkish interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The Turkish military ramped up air strikes in northern Iraq’s PKK bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina and Qandil, the statement added.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2023