Turkiye said on Wednesday that two suspected Kurdish militants who died while staging a weekend attack in Ankara had been trained in Syria.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkiye now reserved the right to strike a broader range of Kurdish targets in both Syria and Iraq in retaliation for Sunday’s attack.

Turkish police shot dead one of the assailants while the other died in an apparent suicide blast outside Turkiye’s interior ministry. Two policemen were injured in the incident.

“As a result of the work of our security forces, it has become clear that the two terrorists came from Syria and were trained there,” Fidan said in televised comments.

“From now on, all infrastructure, large facilities and energy facilities belonging to (armed Kurdish groups) in Iraq and Syria are legitimate targets for our security forces.”

A branch of the Kurdish PKK militia — listed as a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies — claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack, the first in Ankara since 2016.

Turkiye conducted air raids against PKK targets in Iraq hours later.

Fidan’s comments suggest that Turkiye could expand its air strikes to include war-torn Syria.

Syria’s Kurds have carved out a semi-autonomous area in the country’s north and east.

US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — the Kurds’ de facto army in the area — led the battle that dislodged Islamic State group fighters from the last scraps of their Syrian territory in 2019.

But Turkiye views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that dominate the SDF as an offshoot of the PKK.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to expand attacks against the YPG.

Opinion

Editorial

Battling hate
Updated 15 Mar, 2026

Battling hate

In the current scenario, geopolitical conflict, racial prejudice and religious bigotry all contribute to the threats Muslims face.
TB drugs shortage
15 Mar, 2026

TB drugs shortage

‘CRIMINAL negligence’ is the phrase that jumps to mind when one considers the disturbing consequences of the...
Chinese diplomacy
Updated 14 Mar, 2026

Chinese diplomacy

THERE are signs that China is taking a more active role in trying to resolve the issue of cross-border terrorism...
Fragile gains at risk
14 Mar, 2026

Fragile gains at risk

PAKISTAN is confronting an external shock stemming from the US-Israel war on Iran that few of the other affected...
Kidney disease
14 Mar, 2026

Kidney disease

ON World Kidney Day this past Thursday, the Pakistan Medical Association raised the alarm on Pakistan’s...
Delicate balance
Updated 13 Mar, 2026

Delicate balance

PAKISTAN has to maintain a delicate balance where the geopolitics of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran are...