(Bloomberg) -- Turkey said five people were killed in an attack on a state-owned defense company in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, the deadliest “act of terrorism” in the country in nearly two years.
Turkish officials said the PKK, a Kurdish-backed militant group, was likely behind the assault, and the defense ministry later said its warplanes had struck Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria, the Associated Press reported, citing the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Two assailants who attacked the premises of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. were also “eliminated” by security forces while 22 people were wounded, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a televised press conference.
“Most likely the PKK did it, that’s our assessment,” the minister said. “We will share the details once the identifications of the attackers and other evidence become clearer.”
Turkey has been fighting against Kurdish separatists and Islamist militants near its borders with Syria and Iraq, and suffered attacks by both. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. Six people were killed in an explosion in Istanbul two years ago, which was blamed by the government on the PKK.
On Tuesday, an influential Turkish political leader made a historic attempt to get the outlawed group to lay down its arms. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, as the militia is officially known, is designated a terrorist organization by the US, Turkey and the European Union. It has yet to comment on the call to disarm.
The attack rattled Turkish markets, with the country’s benchmark stock index declining as much as 2%. The lira dropped 0.1% to trade at 34.28 per dollar at 9:48 p.m. in Istanbul.
Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, and John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, condemned the attack.
TV footage showed smoke billowing above the TAI campus, while blasts and gunshots could be heard. Turkey’s media watchdog quickly imposed a broadcast ban on the event and restricted access to major social media websites.
The 43-million-square-feet facility in Kahramankazan on the outskirts of the Turkish capital serves as a center for manufacturing of planes, helicopters, drones and satellites, according to TAI’s website.
Earlier, a person familiar with the matter said there were three assailants involved in the attack, including a suicide bomber. The interior minister didn’t elaborate on those details.
--With assistance from Baris Balci, Patrick Sykes, Alex Newman and Asli Kandemir.
(Updates with report of warplanes hitting Kurdish targets, in second paragraph.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
