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A later terrorist attack in the Turkish capital Ankara, claimed by the PKK, was neutralized. At around 9:30 a.m., a man blew himself up in front of the entrance gate of the Interior Ministry’s General Security Directorate, where he had arrived in a car. Another man was neutralized by the police, said Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. “Two of our police officers were slightly injured in the fire. I wish our heroes a speedy recovery,” Yerlikaya wrote on social media. In some images released by the press, a rocket launcher can be seen on the ground in the area of the explosion. The attack occurred just before Parliament reopened after the summer recess: Today, October 1st, the second legislative year of the 28th term of the Grand National Assembly begins. Before the ceremony, some shots were heard on Ismet Inonu Avenue, where both the Grand Assembly and the ministries are located. President Erdogan commented on the attempted attack in a speech broadcast on state television TRT: “These cowardly attackers could not achieve their goal and never will.” A few hours later, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The dynamics
In a video captured by security cameras in the area and published by Turkish media, a man, presumably armed, can be seen running out of a vehicle in front of the ministry entrance. When it reaches the entrance, an explosion occurs. The video shows that another person exiting the same vehicle pointed a gun at the entrance shortly before the explosion. Before the police intervened, one of the two men blew himself up. A firefight then began and the second man was neutralized. The dynamics of the attack have yet to be officially clarified and an investigation into the incident has been launched. The PKK claimed responsibility and stated: “A sacrificial operation against the Turkish Interior Ministry was carried out by a team dependent on our ‘Immortal Brigade’.” The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey and many Western countries.
The recent attack in Ankara
The last terrorist attack in Ankara occurred in March 2016, when a car bomb exploded in the city center, killing 38 people. At the end of 2015, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowd during a peace demonstration: more than 100 people died. This time the crime was attributed to IS. The latest attack in Türkiye is more recent. On November 13, 2022, a bomb exploded in the main pedestrian street in central Istanbul, killing six people and injuring about eighty. The lawsuit was never filed, but Ankara attributed it to the PKK.
