Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has blamed Syria’s PKK-linked YPG group for a blast in the capital, Ankara, that killed at least 28 people.
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The army says hundreds of Kurdish militants have been killed since a curfew was imposed in December.
Turkey is waging an all-out assault on the PKK, which has repeatedly attacked members of the security forces with roadside bombings on their convoys in the south-east.
Turkish police officers block a street after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey February 17, 2016.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said there were casualties but it did not provide specifics.
All relevant information proving the responsbility of the YPG would be passed to members of the United Nations Security Council, he said.
Saleh Muslim, the leader of the People’s Democratic Union, or PYD, which is the political wing of the YPG, denied to the Associated Press from his base in Europe that his group was responsible, however.
More than 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year. “No attack against Turkey has been left unanswered”, he added.
Davutoglu was referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey both considers to be terror groups.
The Turkish military confirmed that it began airstrikes on the PKK in northern Iraq.
“Turkey will not shy away from using its right to self-defense at any time, any place or any occasion”, Erdoğan reportedly said.
Wednesday’s vehicle bomb detonated when a convoy of military buses carrying dozens of soldiers stopped at traffic lights in central Ankara, sparking panic and chaos.
He also says that the blast in Ankara that killed around 28 people is similar to bombings carried out in the past by the Islamic State group.
Mr Davutoglu said the bombing in Ankara proved the YPG is a terrorist group, and said he expects co-operation from Turkey’s allies in tackling them.
Cemil Bayik, the leader of a Kurdish umbrella organization that includes the PKK, told the pro-Kurdish Firat News agency that he did not know who was behind it. But he suggested that Kurdish militants, angered by Ankara’s military operations in southeastern Turkey, may have acted independently. Davutoglu said Syria’s government, which he accused of backing Syrian Kurdish militias, is also to blame.
The White House said on Wednesday it condemned an attack near the armed forces’ headquarters, Parliament and other government buildings.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said any foreign incursion into Syria would be “illegal” and the Russian response would depend on the situation. While Turkey remains at odds with the Kurds, those groups are still receiving support from the United States in Syria for their fight against Islamic State forces there.
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Turkish forces facilitated the transfer from one front to another over several nights, covertly escorting rebels as they exited Syria’s Idlib governorate, travelled four hours across Turkey, and re-entered Syria to support the embattled rebel stronghold of Azaz, the sources said.
