Istambul, Turkey – The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a terror group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed on Thursday responsibility for the suicide car-bomb attack that stroke the Turkish capital on March 13. “We claim this attack”, the group wrote in an online statement, adding that Ms. Demir was indeed one of the perpetrators.
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The discovery comes five days after a female suicide bomber drove a primed vehicle into a busy bus stop in Ankara, killing 35 people and injuring over 120 others. During a speech he gave in Ankara to local district leaders, Erdogan said that for the Turkish government “these phrases have absolutely no value any longer”, and only “those who stand on our side in the fight against terrorism are our friend”.
The group also posted a picture of the 24-year-old woman online.
TAK said the attack was in response to ongoing military operations in southeast Turkey.
TAK has also admitted carrying out last month’s Ankara bombing, which left 29 dead.
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has lashed out at the European Union saying that Europe is “dancing in the minefield” when voicing its support for the Kurds, as it may well see Kurdish terror attacks on its soil.
“We don’t, as you know, recognize the PYD as a terrorist organization”, declared John Kirby, a State Department spokesman in February.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave few details about the closure of diplomatic missions in Turkey.
A year later the group killed four people in an attack at Manavgat, whose waterfall is a major tourist attraction near the Mediterranean resort town of Antalya.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who laid flowers at the latest blast site on Thursday, sought to reassure citizens.
Officers will be working alongside security guards at 36 malls across the city, police sources said. Police were examining security cameras in the area as part of the investigation.
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The crackdown has so far raised only muted criticism from Europe, which is relying on Turkey’s help to resolve the continent’s unprecedented migrant crisis. TAK was established during the mid-2000’s and the group had wished to mark its independence and difference of the PKK, although most of its members claim to follow the same leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who was imprisoned since 1999. Public gatherings have been banned in some cities during the holidays. The celebrations, scheduled for March 21, usually attract large crowds.
