“The bombing will pose a greater challenge to the USA policy of differentiating the PYD from the [terrorist] PKK”, Erdemir said. “It is possible that those who did it will soon explain why they did it”.
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The PKK has vowed to punish the Turkish state for the destruction of several towns and the death of civilians, while Turkey has vowed to root out every last terrorist.
SDF called upon the global community to intensify its efforts in fighting terrorism in order “to uproot it”. Ambassadors to Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the head of the European Union delegation, also were invited. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the issue. The Syrian war, meanwhile, is raging along Turkey’s southern border.
Davutoglu also named the Ankara bomber as Saleh Najar, who he described as a Syrian-born member of the YPG who “infiltrated from Syria with members of the separatist terror organization”, meaning the PKK.
Davutoglu said 70 fighters had been killed in the strikes.
Firefighters work at a scene of fire from an explosion in Ankara, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016.
Terrorist attacks have become an increasingly common sight in Turkey since last summer.
He and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu canceled foreign trips after the bombing.
Mr Davutoglu said Turkish intelligence had established where the militants had crossed into Turkey and how their networks were organised.
The Observatory said the Syrian rebels were a mixture of Islamists and other fighters, with most from the Faylaq Al-Sham group.
“Resorting to terrorist groups like the YPG in the fight against Daesh in Syria is above all a sign of weakness”, Cavusoglu said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamist group.
Hours later and more than 2,000 miles away in what may have been a sympathy attack, an explosion severely damaged a Turkish cultural association building in a Stockholm suburb. There were no injuries because the association was closed at the time.
Eighty-one people were wounded, seven of whom are still in intensive care, the health ministry said. He declined to elaborate. Swedish police officials said there were no suspects.
Also yesterday, at least six soldiers were killed in an attack on their convoy in southeastern Turkey blamed on Kurdish militants, security sources said.
Salih Muslim told DW that the Syrian Kurds are only acting in self-defense against Islamist rebels and “depending on the ground situation” would take Azaz, pointing out that the city is part of Syria and none of Turkey’s business.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan rejected on Thursday the group’s denials of responsibility.
“We have no link to these bombings and with what is happening inside Turkey”, he says. Governor Mehmet Kiliclar said the bomb appeared to have targeted a convoy of buses carrying military personnel.
“This is the most effective fighting force on the ground and if the main priority of the U.S.is to fight ISIS, I don’t think deferring to Turkey – even though they are a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally – is something the administration is willing to do”, Clarke said.
The Syrian Kurdish militia, YPG, is not proscribed as a terrorist group by the West, who has supported them against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). “The Islamic State, first and foremost, is responsible for operations like these”.
Turkey is getting dragged ever deeper into the war in neighbouring Syria and is trying to contain some of the fiercest violence in decades in its predominantly Kurdish southeast.
The PKK on the other hand, hinted at at responsibility for the attack.
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Turkish artillery has been shelling PYD and YPG positions along its border in Syria, apparently concerned by recent gains there by the militias.
