Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had identified the bomber as Syrian national Salih Neccar and said he was a member of the Syrian Kurdish militia group People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
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Earlier in February, Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala said that a military operation against the Kurdish militants in the country’s southeastern district of Cizre had been completed.
Mr Erdogan said Turkish authorities were certain that the YPG and its political arm, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, were behind the bombing and said Turkey was saddened by its Western allies’ failure to brand them as terrorist groups.
A statement posted Friday on the foreign ministry’s website says Russian Federation intends to submit a draft council resolution calling on Turkey to “cease any actions that undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
While the YPG doubtless has motive to retaliate against the Turkish military, blaming them also seems extremely politically convenient for the Erdogan government, which has been trying to sell the narrative of the YPG as terrorists to both the U.S. and Russian Federation, and suddenly has an incident tailor-made for that claim.
The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Islamic State, said the United States had “not provided any weapons of any kind” to the group. Maintaining this line, Davutoglu said, “Those who directly or indirectly support a group hostile to Turkey will risk losing their status as a friend”.
He added he would speak to US President Barack Obama by phone later Friday to warn him over “the weapons support they (the United States) give to those organizations”, referring to the PYD and YPG.
Within hours of the Ankara attack, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the auto bombing. It’s proven hard, though, given the YPG is helping the USA fight IS in Syria.
The military said on Thursday that Turkish jets attacked PKK positions in northern Iraq’s Haftanin region, hitting the group of rebels which it said included a number of senior PKK leaders.
Writing in Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper Saturday, Ibrahim Kalin said: “Those who are supporting terrorist groups in the name of fighting Daesh are only contributing to an already-worsening situation”.
Anadolu Agency reported late on Thursday that artillery shells had “intermittently” targeted militia positions near the town of Azaz.
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Amnesty International says injured Syrians fleeing bombings in northern Syria and in need of medical attention are being denied entry into Turkey. Hundreds of people, meanwhile, filled two main mosques in Ankara for the funerals of at least eight of the victims. Ankara’s second bombing in four months came as Turkey grappled with an array of serious issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, threats from Islamic State militants and the Syria refugee crisis.
