| 2023 Ankara bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Ankara, Turkey |
| Date | 1 October 2023 c. 9:30 a.m. (TRT) |
| Target | General Directorate of Security building |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
| Deaths | 2 (the perpetrators) [1] One civilian killed by the PKK prior to the attack |
| Injured | 2 |
| Perpetrators | PKK (claimed responsibility) [2] |
On 1 October 2023, a suicide bombing occurred in front of the General Directorate of Security building in the Turkish capital Ankara, injuring two police officers. The bomber's companion, who was also planning to blow himself up, was shot and killed by police before he could detonate his explosive. Prior to the attack, the perpetrators reportedly hijacked a vehicle in Kayseri and killed its driver before driving to Ankara. [1] The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack. [2]
The separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist group by the Turkish government and other Western countries. [2] The attack was the first to strike the Turkish capital since a bombing in March 2016 [3] that was claimed by another separatist Kurdish group. [4]
At around 09:30 TRT on 1 October 2023, [3] a light commercial vehicle [5] carrying two people arrived in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of the Interior Ministry [2] on Atatürk Boulevard in Ankara. Both occupants then emerged from the vehicle, with one of them throwing a small explosive at the building to distract security. His companion then opened fire at the guards at the compound’s gate before setting off a bomb strapped to his body, killing himself. The initial attacker then rushed towards the compound but was shot dead by police. [3]
The explosion was followed by large flames and was heard several kilometres away. [2] Security footage of the incident indicated that a guard tower at the gate was damaged. [6]
Aside from killing the perpetrators, the attack injured two police officers. [2] One was shot in the chest and another suffered shrapnel injuries in both legs and an eye from the explosion, but Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said their injuries were not life-threatening. [3]
Turkish media reported that prior to their arrival, the attackers had hijacked the vehicle and shot and killed its driver, a 24-year old veterinarian who was driving in the countryside, in Kayseri, 260 kilometers (161 miles) south-east of Ankara, and dumped his body into a ditch by the side of the road. [3] [5]
Following the attack, police carried out at least two controlled explosions in the area after multiple suspicious packages and bags were found. [1] Television footage showed a rocket launcher lying near the attackers' vehicle. [5] Investigators also recovered four guns, three hand grenades, and C-4 explosives. [7] The Ankara prosecutor's office opened an investigation and ordered the closure of the area. Turkish media was asked to stop broadcasting images from the area where the attack occurred. [2] Authorities also reviewed security footage taken from Kayseri to the Syrian border to determine the origin of the attackers. [3]
On 4 October, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that the attackers came from Syria and were trained there. [8]
The PKK claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying that the perpetrators belonged to its Immortal Brigade. [2] Ahmet Keser, head of Political Science and International Relations at Hasan Kalyoncu University in Gaziantep, said the attack was “a very well-organised terrorist incident” aimed to influence the Turkish parliament's decision on whether to accept Sweden's application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in its autumn session. [1]
The bombing occurred hours before the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was set to open its autumn session in its building nearby. [1] The opening ceremony went ahead as scheduled in the afternoon, [6] with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressing the body. He called the attack "the last stand of terrorism" [5] and referred to the perpetrators as "villains who threaten the peace and security of citizens" who failed to achieve "their objectives and will never achieve them". [2] Leader of the Opposition Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu condemned the bombing, calling it a “terrorist attack” and vowed that Turkey would be united in fighting any such assaults from any source. [1]
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said the bombing would “in no way hinder Turkey’s fight against terrorism". [5]
Following the PKK's claim of responsibility for the attack, the Turkish military launched airstrikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq, with the Turkish Defence Ministry claiming to have destroyed around 20 targets. [9] The Kurdish news agency Rudaw said the strikes occurred at Mount Qandil near the Iranian border. [10] Airstrikes were also reported in Gara, Hakurk, and Metina. [11] The Turkish military conducted another round of airstrikes on 3 October, with the Defence Ministry claiming to have struck 16 PKK targets in the Metina, Gara, Hakurk, Qandil and Asos regions of northern Iraq. [12] It also conducted airstrikes on territory held by Kurdish rebel groups in northern Syria on 5 October, reportedly killing eight people, [13] and on 6 October. [14] During these strikes, a US F-16 fighter jet destroyed a Turkish drone flying near US forces in the region of Al-Hasakah, Syria. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
On 3 October, Turkish police launched a series of raids across 64 provinces that led to the detention of at least 928 people for possession of illegal weapons and 90 others suspected of being members of the PKK and the recovery of more than 1,000 illegal arms. The operation was centered in Şanlıurfa and involved about 13,400 security personnel. [20]
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement which historically operated throughout Kurdistan but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq. Since 1984, the PKK has been involved in asymmetric warfare in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. Although the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state, in the 1990s its official platform changed to seeking autonomy and increased political and cultural rights for Kurds within Turkey.
The history of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began in 1974 as a Marxist–Leninist organization under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan. In 1978 the organization adopted the name "Kurdistan Workers Party" and waged its low-level Urban War in Turkish Kurdistan between 1978 and 1980. The PKK restructured itself and moved the organization structure to Syria between 1980 and 1984, after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. The Kurdish-Turkish conflict began in earnest in 1984. The rural-based insurgency lasted between 1984 and 1992. The PKK shifted its activities to include urban attacks against Turkish military bases between 1993–1995 and later 1996–1999. Öcalan was captured in Kenya in early 1999. After a "self declared peace initiative of 1999", hostilities resumed in February 2004. 2013 saw another ceasefire, but the conflict resumed again in 2015 and has continued since.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, or TAK, is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkish Kurdistan. The group also opposes the Turkish government's policies towards Kurds in Turkey. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US, UK and Australian governments.
This is the timeline of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. The Kurdish insurgency is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups, which have demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or to have autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The main rebel group is the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, which was founded on November 27, 1978, and started a full-scale insurgency on August 15, 1984, when it declared a Kurdish uprising. Apart from some extended ceasefires, the conflict has continued to the present day.
The 2010 Istanbul bomb blast was a suicide bombing that took place on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey on 31 October 2010. The bomb resulted in at least 32 injuries, 15 of whom were police officers and was claimed by a Kurdish secessionist group known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK).
The Suruç bombing was a suicide attack by the Turkish sect of Islamic State named Dokumacılar against Turkish leftists that took place in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey on 20 July 2015, outside the Amara Culture Centre. A total of 34 people were killed and 104 were reported injured. Most victims were members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Youth Wing and the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), university students who were giving a press statement on their planned trip to reconstruct the Syrian border town of Kobanî.
The 2015 police raids in Turkey were a series of police raids conducted by the General Directorate of Security in 16 different Provinces of Turkey. The July 20th, 2015 Suruç bombing in Suruç killed 32 Kurds. Claimed by ISIS, it was perceived by Kurdish militants as a collaboration between ISIS and Turkey security services, leading to a series of revenge attacks on Turkish policemen and military positions in Adıyaman and Ceylanpınar. The Ceylanpınar incidents saw the assassination of 2 policemen by operatives of disputed affiliation, attributed to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and became the Casus belli for Turkey operations in both Turkey and Iraq.
Operation Martyr Yalçın was a military operation conducted by the Turkish Air Force against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positions in Syria, and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, on 24 and 25 July 2015.
In late July 2015, the third phase of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict between various Kurdish insurgent groups and the Turkish government erupted, following a failed two and a half year-long peace process aimed at resolving the long-running conflict.
On 10 October 2015 at 10:04 local time (EEST) in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, two bombs were detonated outside Ankara Central railway station. With a death toll of 109 civilians, the attack surpassed the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings as the deadliest terror attack in Turkish history. Another 500 people were injured. Censorship monitoring group Turkey Blocks identified nationwide slowing of social media services in the aftermath of the blasts, described by rights group Human Rights Watch as an "extrajudicial" measure to restrict independent media coverage of the incident.
The February 2016 Ankara bombing killed at least 30 people and injured 60 in the capital of Turkey. According to Turkish authorities, the attack targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying both civilian and military personnel working at the military headquarters during the evening rush hour as the vehicles were stopped at traffic lights at an intersection with İsmet İnönü Boulevard close to Kızılay neighborhood. Several ministries, the headquarters of the army and the Turkish Parliament are located in the neighbourhood where the attack occurred. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) took responsibility for the attack and said they targeted security forces. Censorship monitoring organization Turkey Blocks reported nationwide internet restrictions beginning approximately one hour after the blast pursuant to an administrative order. The attack killed 14 military personnel, 14 civilian employees of the military, and a civilian.
The March 2016 Ankara bombing killed at least 37 people and injured 125. Of the 125 individuals who suffered injuries, 19 were seriously harmed. Several buildings were also damaged during the event, and a bus and many cars were reportedly completely destroyed.
On 7 June 2016, at around 08:40 (UTC+3), a bombing occurred in central Istanbul, Turkey, killing 12 people and injuring 51 others, three of them seriously. The attack targeted a bus carrying policemen as the vehicle passed through the Vezneciler district near the Şehzade Mosque and the Vezneciler Metro station.
In the early morning of 25 April 2017, the Turkish Air Force conducted multiple airstrikes against media centers and headquarters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in northeastern Syria, and against positions of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) on Mount Sinjar, northwestern Iraq. The airstrikes killed 20 YPG and YPJ fighters in Syria in addition to five Peshmerga soldiers in Iraq.
Operation Claw was a cross-border military operation undertaken by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region against the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
The joint Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger operations was a Turkish Armed Forces external operation in northern Iraq. The operation took place in the Qandil Mountains, the Sinjar District, and Makhmur, against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets, as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish and Kurdish–Iranian conflicts. Claw-Eagle, the air campaign, began on 15 June 2020. Claw-Tiger, the ground campaign, was launched on 17 June.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2021. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
Starting on 5 October 2023, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a series of air and ground strikes targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeastern Syria. The airstrikes were launched in response to the 2023 Ankara bombing, which the Turkish government alleges was carried out by attackers originating from Northeastern Syria.
On 5 October 2023, at approximately 11:30 AM local time, a Turkish combat drone was shot down by a United States Air Force F-16 near US forces in the Al-Hasakah region of Syria.
On 23 October 2024, seven people were killed and twenty-two injured in an armed attack on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in Kahramankazan, Ankara, Turkey. The widely condemned attack was considered terrorism by Turkish officials. The two attackers were later killed. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the attack. In retaliation, the Turkish military conducted airstrikes on positions in Iraq and Syria. Syrian Democratic Forces claimed the retaliatory attack killed at least 12 civilians and wounded 25 more.
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