• Govt says PKK ‘likely’ behind heinous attack
• Erdogan slams ‘heinous terrorist attack’ near Ankara
• Nato chief says alliance stands with Turkiye
• Pakistani officials convey their condolences

ANKARA: Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack on the headquarters of a top Turkish defence firm near Ankara that the government said was “very likely” carried out by Kurdish militants.

“The way in which this action was carried out is very probably linked to the PKK,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said, referring to the insurgent Kurdish group. However, he added efforts were underway to identify the perpetrators.

There was no immediate claim for the attack but Defence Minister Yasar Guler also pointed the finger at ‘PKK villains’. “As they always do, they tried to disturb our nation’s peace through a despicable and dishonourable attack... we will make them suffer for what they have done,” he vowed.

It took place a day after the head of the far-right MHP, which belongs to Erdogan’s ruling coalition, invited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to address parliament to announce his movement’s dissolution.

Shortly after 3:30pm, a huge explosion rocked the state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), some 40km north of Ankara. It sent clouds of smoke into the air as the sound of gunfire rang out, Turkish media reported in an incident quickly denounced by Yerlikaya as a “terror attack”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin, called it a “heinous” attack on Turkiye’s defence industry “targeting the survival of our country”.

The interior minister earlier said three of the injured were in critical condition and that the two attackers, “a woman and a man”, had been “neutralised”.

Four employees among victims

Vice president Cevdet Yilmaz said four of the victims were TAI employees while the fifth was a taxi driver. Media reports earlier said the assailants had killed him and taken his taxi to carry out the attack.

One of Turkiye’s top defence firms and a major arms producer, TAI employs 15,500 people and has a vast production site covering an area of five million square metres, its website says.

An unconfirmed report by private channel NTV said a “group of terrorists” had burst into the building, one of whom “blew himself up” while other outlets reported exchanges of fire for over an hour.

Haberturk TV said there was a “hostage situation”, with another media pundit saying “a number of hostages” had been rescued. Sabah newspaper published what it said was a CCTV image from the entrance showing a black-clad young man with a moustache carrying a rucksack and what appeared to be an assault rifle.

The attack drew condemnation from across Turkiye and beyond, with Putin offering Erdogan his “condolences in connection with the terror attack” at the start of their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan.

Statements of condemnation and condolences to the families of the victims were also issued by Brussels, Berlin and the US and French embassies in Turkiye as well as by Iran.

NATO chief Mark Rutte also phoned Erdogan to offer support, saying the alliance “stands with Turkiye,” he wrote on X, using the country’s official Turkish name.

The attack came as Turkiye’s political establishment appeared to be leaning towards a political, negotiated solution to the decades-long conflict with the Kurdish militants. The timing was not lost on the main pro-Kurdish party, Dem, the third largest force in parliament, which said it was “noteworthy that the attack took place just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue”.

The last attack in Turkiye was in January when gunmen opened fire inside a Catholic church in Istanbul, leaving one dead in an assault claimed by the Islamic State group.

Pakistan condemns attack

“We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday.

PM Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his deep shock and sadness over a terrorist attack in Ankara.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to my dear brother President Recep Tayyip Erdogan & the people of Turkiye. Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with our Turkish brothers,” the prime minister wrote on X.

Condemning the terrorist attack, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed her heartfelt sympathies and condolences with the Turkish people.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2024