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| Turkish officials blame PKK for Ankara bomb as air force strikes Kurdish targets | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Turkish security officials have blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) for a car bombing that killed 37 people in Ankara on Sunday, as the president vowed to bring terrorism “to its knees” and the airforce hit Kurdish targets in Iraq. | |
| The officials told Reuters that evidence had been obtained suggesting that one of the bombers was a woman who joined the PKK in 2013. She was born in 1992 and was from the eastern Turkish city of Kars, they said. A security official later said that a male Turkish citizen with links to the militant group was a second suspect. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. | |
| Related: Erdoğan's Turkey: a disintegrating ally and imaginary friend | Related: Erdoğan's Turkey: a disintegrating ally and imaginary friend |
| The Turkish health minister, Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, said 71 people were in hospital, 15 of whom were in a serious condition. The body of an attacker had been found at the scene, he added. | The Turkish health minister, Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, said 71 people were in hospital, 15 of whom were in a serious condition. The body of an attacker had been found at the scene, he added. |
| Early on Monday, Turkey scrambled fighter jets to attack Kurdish rebel targets. The army said 11 warplanes carried out airstrikes on 18 targets, including arms depots and PKK shelters in the mountainous Qandil and Gara regions in northern Iraq, where the PKK’s high command is based. | Early on Monday, Turkey scrambled fighter jets to attack Kurdish rebel targets. The army said 11 warplanes carried out airstrikes on 18 targets, including arms depots and PKK shelters in the mountainous Qandil and Gara regions in northern Iraq, where the PKK’s high command is based. |
| The suicide bomb attack is the third such assault in the Turkish capital in five months. Last month a similar blast killed 29 people when a suicide bomber targeted military personnel, blocks away from the scene of Sunday’s attack. The militant group Kurdistan Freedom Hawks claimed responsibility. | |
| Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, vowed to defeat those responsible. “These attacks, which threaten our country’s integrity and our nation’s unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination,” he said. | |
| “Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees.” | “Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees.” |
| Related: Ankara car bomb: Turkish president vows to defeat terror after dozens killed | Related: Ankara car bomb: Turkish president vows to defeat terror after dozens killed |
| Police said they had detained four people in the southern city of Şanlıurfa, near the Syrian border, after they established that the vehicle used in the attack had been bought from a car showroom there, according to the Anadolu news agency. | Police said they had detained four people in the southern city of Şanlıurfa, near the Syrian border, after they established that the vehicle used in the attack had been bought from a car showroom there, according to the Anadolu news agency. |
| Police also carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, where 36 suspected PKK members were taken into custody. Separately, 20,000 police officers and soldiers launched a large-scale security operation against Kurdish militants in the town of Yüksekova, close to the Iranian and Iraqi borders. A blanket curfew had earlier been issued for Yüksekova and Nusaybin, another town in the south-east. Large numbers of tanks and armoured vehicles were deployed to both towns. Many residents have already fled their homes. | Police also carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, where 36 suspected PKK members were taken into custody. Separately, 20,000 police officers and soldiers launched a large-scale security operation against Kurdish militants in the town of Yüksekova, close to the Iranian and Iraqi borders. A blanket curfew had earlier been issued for Yüksekova and Nusaybin, another town in the south-east. Large numbers of tanks and armoured vehicles were deployed to both towns. Many residents have already fled their homes. |
| The Turkish government has been imposing similar curfews in several cities in the south-east, violently cracking down on Kurdish militants there who have dug trenches, planted explosives and set up barricades. Human rights organisations have raised serious concerns over human rights violations due to the massive security operations, and said scores of civilians had died in the crossfire. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the violence. | |
| The renewed conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has laid waste to entire towns and neighbourhoods in the south-east since the breakdown of a ceasefire last year. | The renewed conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has laid waste to entire towns and neighbourhoods in the south-east since the breakdown of a ceasefire last year. |
| Reuters contributed to this report | Reuters contributed to this report |