Terrorist attack in Ankara: Five dead in attack on arms company in Turkey

According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, at least five people were killed in an attack on the premises of a defense company in Turkey. Yerlikaya said 22 others were injured in the attack on the outskirts of the capital Ankara. Two suspected attackers are also dead, a man and a woman. Her identity is still being clarified. The Interior Minister linked the crime that evening to the banned PKK workers’ party. The attack bore the hallmarks of the organization, he said, without giving further details. The investigation is ongoing.

According to Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, four of the victims are company employees. The fifth fatality was a taxi driver. A few hours after the attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the incident on Platform X as a “cowardly attack” on a driving force in the Turkish defense industry.

In the afternoon, the media published recordings from surveillance cameras that allegedly showed the suspected attackers with firearms. An explosion could also be seen on video footage and shots could be heard in the background. Security measures around the parliament in central Ankara were also increased. The Turkish broadcasting authority Rtük imposed a news blackout on the topic.

Attack on the “eyeball” of the domestic defense industry

The Turkish Aerospace Industry (Tusas) company is a subsidiary of the state Defense Industry Agency. The company is, among other things, a major producer of combat aircraft and drones. Tusas, for example, helped develop the prototypes of the Turkish Kaan fighter jet. Yerlikaya called the company an “apple of the eye” of the domestic defense industry. In February, Tusas successfully tested the first predominantly locally developed Kaan fighter aircraft. According to the company, the jet was developed together with BAE Systems.

According to analyst Murat Yetkin, Tusas drones are used in the fight against both the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and Turkey’s Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.

Serious attacks by several groups in the past

In Turkey, both IS, the left-wing extremist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front DHKP-C and the PKK have carried out serious attacks in the past, including in Ankara. In October 2023, for example, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the Interior Ministry in Ankara, injuring two officials. The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack. The Turkish government responded with dozens of arrests inside Turkey and airstrikes in northern Iraq, where the PKK headquarters is located.

The current attack comes shortly after the ultra-nationalists of the MHP party surprisingly discussed the possible release of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. The MHP is Erdogan’s government partner. However, their boss Devlet Bahceli had linked this to the disarmament of the terrorist organization. Observers see this as a sign that there could possibly be a new peace process between the government and the PKK. The last attempt failed in 2015.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz was “shocked” by the attack. On X he wrote: “We strongly condemn terrorism in all forms and stand with our partner Türkiye.” The Foreign Office also reacted “horrified” to the attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with Erdogan in the Russian city of Kazan on the sidelines of the Brics summit for talks, expressed his condolences to the Turks. Russia condemns all forms of terrorist acts, “regardless of what motivates them,” he said.