Ankara bomb attackers come from Syria: Turkish FM

Xinhua , Wednesday 4 Oct 2023

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed on Wednesday that the two assailants responsible for a recent suicide bomb attack in the capital city of Ankara hailed from Syria.

Explosion in Ankara
Turkish policemen and security forces cordon off an area after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey. AP

 

Telling a press conference in Ankara, the minister said that "it has become clear that the two terrorists came from Syria and received training here," vowing "extremely clear" responses to the attack.

The incident, which took place in front of the Turkish Interior Ministry's building on Sunday, resulted in the injuries of two police officers.

During the attack, one suicide bomber blew himself up while the other assailant was shot dead by the police.

Although the Turkish Interior Ministry had not identified the two attackers as members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) until Wednesday, Turkish warplanes had carried out airstrikes on suspected PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the group has bases, hours after the Ankara bomb attack.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. Türkiye has launched numerous cross-border offensives against the PKK in northern Iraq.

The country has also been trying to create a safe zone along its border with Syria to secure itself from "terrorist" attacks by Islamic State militants and the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara sees as a Syrian branch of the PKK. 

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