ANKARA — The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Friday claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a Turkish defense industry complex in Ankara earlier this week, killing five.
The PKK has been waging a decades-long armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Two armed assailants attacked TUSAS, Turkey’s state-run aerospace and defense company, killing five people and wounding at least 22 on Wednesday. The two died in the attack.
The PKK statement posted on the group’s affiliated Firat News Agency website said the attack had been carried out as an “act of self-sacrifice” to send “a warning and a message” about Turkey’s practices in its fight against the PKK.
“It is known that the weapons produced by TUSAS have killed thousands of our civilians, including children and women,” the statement claimed.
TUSAS, a leading company in Turkey’s burgeoning defense industry, manufactures KAAN fighter planes, the country’s first national combat aircraft.
The attack at the TUSAS compound comes at a critical time, amid reported possible plans by Turkey’s ruling coalition to pursue diplomacy, in addition to military measures, to resolve the 40-year-old conflict with the PKK.
Also on Wednesday, the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan, serving a life sentence since 1999 on Imrali, an island off the coast of Istanbul, was allowed to meet with his family for the first time since 2020. The move marked a first in years, as the militant leader had not been allowed to meet with his lawyers or family for some time.
The PKK claimed in its statement on Friday that the attack was not linked to recent efforts to use diplomacy in attempting to settle the Kurdish problem.
The attack “which we planned long ago … has absolutely no connection with the political discussions that have been on the agenda in Turkey,” the statement said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
