In a statement, the Kurdish PKK guerrilla claimed responsibility for the bomb attack carried out by two individuals this morning in front of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior in Ankara. Security camera images showed two people getting out of a car armed. One was running towards the ministry and an explosion occurred, while the other attacker remained in the street and was later killed by Turkish security forces. The PKK, considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU and the US, claimed in a statement that it planned the attack to coincide with the resumption of parliamentary activity after the summer. The organization claims that the Government has hidden the alleged fatalities of the attack and added that the action is a protest against “isolation and torture practices in prisons.”
Turkish authorities say that two police officers were injured in the attack but their situation is stable and they are out of danger. “One of the terrorists detonated himself and the other terrorist was killed. During the exchange of fire, two members of our security forces were slightly injured. I wish our heroes a speedy recovery,” Interior Minister Ali Ali told reporters. Yerlikaya.
Although the Ministry of the Interior building is located 300 meters from Parliament, the Government has decided to resume activity normally and with greater security measures. “Those who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their objectives and will never achieve them,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the chamber.
The Ankara Prosecutor’s Office continues its investigation into the attack. Although the identity of the attackers has not been revealed, it is known that yesterday they killed a veterinarian in Kayseri, a province in central Anatolia, and stole the car they used to travel to the scene of the attack.
In the last decade, attacks by Kurdish, far-left militant groups, as well as the Islamic State terrorist group, have occurred in Turkey, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The latest attack, attributed to the PKK, occurred in Istanbul in November last year. Six people died and more than 80 were injured.
