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| Turkey accuses a Syrian Kurd of bombing Ankara and vows to retaliate | Turkey accuses a Syrian Kurd of bombing Ankara and vows to retaliate |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| ISTANBUL — Turkey Thursday accused Kurdish groups of responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 28 people in the capital, Ankara, yesterday, 27 of them members of the Turkish military. | ISTANBUL — Turkey Thursday accused Kurdish groups of responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 28 people in the capital, Ankara, yesterday, 27 of them members of the Turkish military. |
| In a televised speech, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that a member of the Syrian People’s Protection Units, or YPG, had carried out the attack in collaboration with Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. | In a televised speech, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that a member of the Syrian People’s Protection Units, or YPG, had carried out the attack in collaboration with Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. |
| A Syrian national identified as Saleh Najjar from the Kurdish town of Amuda in northern Syria was identified as the perpetrator of the suicide bombing, and nine other people have been detained in connection with the attack, Davutoglu said. | A Syrian national identified as Saleh Najjar from the Kurdish town of Amuda in northern Syria was identified as the perpetrator of the suicide bombing, and nine other people have been detained in connection with the attack, Davutoglu said. |
| “A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established,” Davutoglu said. “The attack was carried out by the PKK together with a person who sneaked into Turkey from Syria.” | “A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established,” Davutoglu said. “The attack was carried out by the PKK together with a person who sneaked into Turkey from Syria.” |
| [Blast strikes military convoy in Turkish capital; at least 28 killed] | |
| The YPG swiftly denied any link to the bombing, and said the Turkish government was accusing the YPG in order to justify attacks against the rapidly expanding Kurdish enclave known as Rojava that is in the process of being established in northern Syria. | |
| Turkey has vowed to prevent the creation of an autonomous Kurdish entity along the Syrian border because of fears that it would encourage Turkish Kurds to seek their own state. | |
| A statement issued by the group called the allegation “part of an attempt by the Turkish prime minister to establish new foundations for their attacks on Rojava during the Syrian crisis.” | |
| “We say to the people of Turkey and the international community: there is no relation between us, the YPG, and yesterday’s incidents in Ankara,” it added. | |
| The bombing coincided with the launch by Turkey of artillery strikes into Syria to prevent Syrian Kurds advancing into a strategic corridor of territory near the Turkish border. | The bombing coincided with the launch by Turkey of artillery strikes into Syria to prevent Syrian Kurds advancing into a strategic corridor of territory near the Turkish border. |
| It raised the specter of an escalation in the cross-border fighting. | It raised the specter of an escalation in the cross-border fighting. |
| Turkey’s president Recep Tayyep Erdogan vowed in a statement following the attack that Turkey would retaliate against the “pawns that carry out such attacks … and the forces behind them.” | Turkey’s president Recep Tayyep Erdogan vowed in a statement following the attack that Turkey would retaliate against the “pawns that carry out such attacks … and the forces behind them.” |
| Davutoglu said he also held embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible because Assad and his government have acknowledged on a number of occasions that they provide arms to the YPG. | Davutoglu said he also held embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible because Assad and his government have acknowledged on a number of occasions that they provide arms to the YPG. |
| The charges against Syrian Kurds will also further complicate Turkey’s fraught relationship with the United States, which has partnered with the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and has refused Turkish entreaties to abandon the alliance. | The charges against Syrian Kurds will also further complicate Turkey’s fraught relationship with the United States, which has partnered with the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and has refused Turkish entreaties to abandon the alliance. |
| “It is out of the question for us to excuse tolerance toward a terrorist organization that targets our people in our capital,” Davutoğlu said, in an apparent reference toward tensions with Washington. | “It is out of the question for us to excuse tolerance toward a terrorist organization that targets our people in our capital,” Davutoğlu said, in an apparent reference toward tensions with Washington. |
| There has been no claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, which struck a bus full of members of Turkey’s military as it paused at a traffic light in a central Ankara neighborhood that houses the nation’s parliament and government headquarters, according to Turkey’s official Anadolu News Agency. In addition to the deaths, at least 61 people were injured in the fireball that engulfed the bus and ignited trees in a nearby park at the height of the evening rush hour. | There has been no claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, which struck a bus full of members of Turkey’s military as it paused at a traffic light in a central Ankara neighborhood that houses the nation’s parliament and government headquarters, according to Turkey’s official Anadolu News Agency. In addition to the deaths, at least 61 people were injured in the fireball that engulfed the bus and ignited trees in a nearby park at the height of the evening rush hour. |
| Cemil Bayik, one of the top leaders of the PKK who lives in northern Iraq, said he didn’t know who had carried out the bombing, but speculated that it may have been “an act of retaliation for the massacres in Kurdistan” – a reference to a brutal military campaign being waged by Turkey’s military against Kurds in southeastern Turkey. | Cemil Bayik, one of the top leaders of the PKK who lives in northern Iraq, said he didn’t know who had carried out the bombing, but speculated that it may have been “an act of retaliation for the massacres in Kurdistan” – a reference to a brutal military campaign being waged by Turkey’s military against Kurds in southeastern Turkey. |
| The PKK has in the past frequently targeted military convoys and off-duty military personnel and the attacks have intensified as the Turkish military has stepped up its campaign. A bombing against a military vehicle on Thursday in southeastern Diyarbakir killed six people, the Turkish military said. | The PKK has in the past frequently targeted military convoys and off-duty military personnel and the attacks have intensified as the Turkish military has stepped up its campaign. A bombing against a military vehicle on Thursday in southeastern Diyarbakir killed six people, the Turkish military said. |
| Turkish warplanes carried out fresh raids overnight against PKK bases in northern Iraq, a frequent retaliatory target of Turkish airstrikes. | Turkish warplanes carried out fresh raids overnight against PKK bases in northern Iraq, a frequent retaliatory target of Turkish airstrikes. |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| Turkish opposition to Syrian Kurds complicates Western strategies | Turkish opposition to Syrian Kurds complicates Western strategies |
| Biden decries Turkish political crackdowns | Biden decries Turkish political crackdowns |
| Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world |