“The attack was realized by the Immortal Battalion of the TAK”, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) said in a statement on their website.
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The massive bomb blast struck five buses carrying military service personnel at a traffic light in the centre of the capital on Wednesday evening.
The State Department, which sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters as useful allies against Daesh, said the United States had “not provided any weapons of any kind” to the group. He said the bomber was a Syrian national named Salih Necar and that nine people had been detained over the attack.
In fact, it has become even more chaotic as some rebel groups backed by the United States are now attacking each other. Ankara regards these militias as terrorists due to their affiliation with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey. It has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks since 2004. The shelling is aimed at preventing the Syrian Kurds from gaining ground near the Turkish border.
Washington, which does not consider the YPG a terrorist organization, has said it is not in a position to confirm or deny Ankara’s charge the militia was behind the bombing.
“This incident will help our friends – who have so far failed to be convinced – better understand how strong the links are between the YPG and PYD in Syria and the PKK in Turkey”, he said. Maintaining this line, Davutoglu said, “Those who directly or indirectly support a group hostile to Turkey will risk losing their status as a friend”.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said evidence provided by Turkey’s Interior Ministry pointed to the terrorist PKK and PYD organizations as the culprit for Wednesday’s Ankara bombing.
The government has blamed a Syrian Kurdish group classified as a terror organisation by Ankara as well as homegrown Kurdish militants for the vehicle bombing on Wednesday in the heart of the Turkish capital.
Turkey’s accusation of the Kurdish groups comes as Ankara continues to send airstrikes at PYD and YPG targets near the Turkish-Syrian border, where the Kurdish militia have increased their operations.
Turkey has also been helping efforts led by the United States to combat ISIL in neighbouring Syria, and has faced several deadly bombings in the a year ago that were blamed on the extremist group.
“My friend Kerry said the YPG can not be trusted”, Cavusoglu said at a news conference during a visit to Tbilisi.
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The statement said the group would “take revenge for all the suffering of the Kurdish people” and said the attack in Ankara was against the “fascist” Turkish state.
