Turkey blamed the Syrian militia group as well as Turkey’s own Kurdish rebels for Wednesday…
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“It has been revealed that a YPG member who infiltrated from Syria with members of the separatist terror organization conducted this attack”, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at the time, according to CNN.
The TAK was once linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Meanwhile, Turkey is questioning the US support of YPG, which is helping combat the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
The United States works with the YPG as the sole truly effective force on the ground in the fight against IS and has shown no sign of changing its stance on the group.
In 2008, the TAK was deemed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group by the United States. It is part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and has been shelling Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria in recent days.
TAK has in the past said its relationship with PKK militants has been severed.
“Rights groups have raised serious concerns over the operation in the town, which has been placed under a curfew that prevents journalists and observers from entering”, notes AP. Turkey said a separate attack by PKK militants in the country’s southeast killed six soldiers.
Erdogan said 14 people had been detained in nationwide raids across Turkey and that the number was likely to rise. Swedish police officials said there were no suspects.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that the violence will not stand in the way of Turkish unity, however.
The United States on Friday rejected Turkey’s claims that USA weapons had ended up in the hands of Daesh Takfiri terrorists, the Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) based in Syria.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that during the Obama-initiated call, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria.
The White House later confirmed that Obama and Erdogan discussed Syria over the telephone Friday.
The UAE has condemned a terrorist vehicle bomb attack that targeted military buses near the armed forces’ headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the Turkish capital Ankara.
That’s according to the Anadalou Agency, which also quotes Davutoglu warning Russian Federation against helping the YPG: “All those who intend to use terror pawns against Turkey must know that [playing] this game of terror will hit them like a boomerang”.
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ISIL has also recently carried out bombing attacks in Turkey including an attack in Ankara in October that killed 102 people.
