Firefighters work at a scene of fire from an explosion in Ankara, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016.
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The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said Thursday the assailant had been registered as a refugee in Turkey and was identified by his fingerprints.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a bomb attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara that killed and wounded dozens of people on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Turkey began shelling areas inside Syria held by a PKK affiliate, the YPG, which Turkey also considers a terrorist group.
The vehicle laden with explosives was detonated near the Turkish General Staff headquarters, the Prime Ministry, Parliament and Defence Ministry.
No organization has so far claimed responsibility for the attack and the government has immediately assigned seven prosecutors to investigate the incident, said Kurtulmus.
Speaking about the attack, the army said that it took place at 2200 IST and had targeted “service vehicles carrying army personnel”.
Erdogan said the attack exceeded all “moral and humane boundaries”, and vowed to go after the “forces” behind the assailants.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the PYD’s military wing, known as the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, worked with rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, to carry out the bombing.
Militants have also targeted other sites in Turkey, which has been helping efforts led by the United States to combat IS in neighboring Syria. The US has declined to side with Ankara and is maintaining their support of the YPG as a key player on the ground in Syria in the war against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said on his Twitter account that the explosion was the result of a “cowardly terrorist attack”.
Anonymous security sources in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast told Reuters they believed Islamic State militants (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) were behind the bombing.
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The attack struck the convoy as it was traveling through the Lice region of Diyarbakir, and came hours after Turkey’s air force launched new strikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, the army said Thursday.
