Despite no immediate claim of responsibility, two undisclosed security officials told Reuters the evidence points to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Advertisement
Eleven people have been arrested in connection with a suicide attack in Ankara which Turkish officials say was carried out by two bombers – one male and one female.
Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq have killed 45 PKK terrorists, a military source said on Tuesday. Eskisehir Mayor Gungor Azmi Tuna said the suspects were known to authorities for making propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s military operation against PKK militants in the country’s southeast was launched in 2015, breaking a ceasefire agreement that had held for two years.
Davutoglu said 11 suspects were detained after Sunday’s attack, which occurred in central Ankara, close to government ministries and a top courthouse.
More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS.
The Erdogan regime already had plans for large-scale operations against PKK, with one operation beginning yesterday in Nusaybin, on the Syrian border, while tanks were deployed in Yuksekova, near the Iraqi frontier.
Turkey is grappling with a host of issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, tensions with a Syrian Kurdish militia group affiliated with the PKK, threats from Islamic State and a Syrian refugee crisis. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, and human rights groups have criticized the military for scores of civilian deaths. Some towns in the area have been placed under curfew.
On Monday afternoon, as names were reported of those killed in the attack, the popular Istanbul-based football team Galatasaray confirmed that the father of their striker, Umut Bulut, had been killed after he watched his son play against Genclerbirligi at 19 Mayis stadium on Sunday. So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the attack.
Advertisement
The violence broke out on Monday evening when young PKK members put up barricades and burned vehicles in Baglar, security sources said, prompting a swift response from the police. A police officer and three militants were killed in the clashes which also injured 10 other policemen, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. It’s not entirely clear if Kurdish groups are even linked to what is now the second bombing in the Turkish capital in less than a month, but what little information is trickling out about the incident is under the watch of government censors.
