2024 Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters attack | |
---|---|
Part of terrorism in Turkey | |
Location | Kahramankazan, Ankara, Turkey |
Coordinates | 40°04′44″N32°35′01″E / 40.078979°N 32.583599°E |
Date | 23 October 2024 3:26 p.m. (TRT) |
Target | Turkish Space Systems, Integration and Test Center |
Attack type | Bombings and mass shooting |
Weapons | AKS-74Us, M67 grenades and explosives |
Deaths | 7 (including the 2 perpetrators) |
Injured | 22 |
Perpetrator | PKK (accused by Turkey) [1] [2] [3] |
On 23 October 2024, five people were killed and 22 injured in a terrorist attack on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in Kahramankazan, Ankara. [4] The two attackers were later killed. [5]
TAI is one of Turkey's major companies specialising in defence and aviation manufacturing. Its projects include the TAI TF Kaan, Turkey's first domestically produced fighter jet. [6] The incident happened as a major trade fair for the defence and aerospace industries was being held in Istanbul. [4]
At the time of the attack, a weapons exhibition was taking place in Istanbul, which received a visit from Ukrainian foreign minster Andrii Sybiha. [7] [8]
The attack happened a day after the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahçeli, who is an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, suggested that Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) might be given parole if he agreed to stop using violence and dissolves his group. [9]
The attack at the Space Systems, Integration and Test Center at the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries in Kahramankazan, Ankara, at around 3:26 p.m. (TRT) coincided with the shift change of approximately 7,500 employees. [4] [10] [11] [12]
Two attackers arrived aboard a taxi before detonating an explosive beside it, [13] firing automatic rifles and entering the complex. [14] A large fire later broke out at the site. In a separate video verified by CNN, CCTV footage shows attackers wearing plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle. [15] Staff were evacuated to shelters, while firefighters and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. [11] Clashes were also reported in a nearby car park. [10]
At least seven people were killed in the attack, [10] including two assailants and the driver of the taxi they rode in, [13] who was believed to have been killed after the attackers boarded his vehicle and was then hidden in the trunk of the car. [12] Twenty-two others were injured, one of which was in a critical condition. [16] Seven of them were members of the Turkish special forces. [17]
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the Turkish government the perpetrators of the attack were members of the PKK, a group classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States. [14] The male perpetrator was identified as Ali Örek, [18] who had the codename "Rojger" [19] and was born in 1992 in Beytüşşebap, Şırnak Province. The female perpetrator was identified as Mine Sevjin Alçiçek, who had served as the former HDP Hakkari Province Central district co-chairman. [20] AKS-74U compact weapons with optics, known to be frequently used by the PKK, were used in the attack. [21]
Ebubekir Şahin, Chairman of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), announced that a broadcasting ban was imposed on the attack. [22] In addition, social media platforms were bandwidth throttled and access to platforms such as X, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube were restricted. [17]
In response, the Turkish military launched strikes on 47 Kurdish rebel positions, including 29 in northern Iraq and 18 in northern Syria. The day after the attacks, the Syrian Democratic Forces accused Turkey of launching a "new wave" of attacks that killed 12 civilians and injured 25 others [19] and struck two train stations in Al-Malikiyah and Qamishli. [18] Meanwhile, Kamiran Hassan, the mayor of Mawat district in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan, said that Mount Asos was targeted twice by Turkish airstrikes. [23]
Increased security checks were imposed at TAI headquarters and at Istanbul's main airports following the attack. Funerals for some of the victims were performed on 24 October. [19]
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya called the incident a "terrorist attack" [16] and said "Unfortunately, we have martyrs and injured people." Ankara metropolitan mayor Mansur Yavaş said in a statement he was "deeply saddened" by the news. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, announced that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a "judicial investigation" into the incident. [11] The attack was also condemned by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, [24] who said that the attack was aimed against Turkey's "success in the defense industry", [13] as well as transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu and Republican People's Party leader and concurrent leader of the opposition Özgür Özel. [10] TAI general manager Mehmet Demiroğlu cut short his attendance at a defence fair to attend to the situation at company headquarters. [16] President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack during a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the 16th BRICS summit in Russia. [11] Putin also expressed his condolences. [16]
Mark Rutte, secretary-general of NATO, expressed solidarity with Turkey following the attack. [16] Condemnations were also expressed by Iraq, [25] the European Union and the United States. [26] US secretary of state Antony Blinken also expressed solidarity with Turkey and extended his condolences, saying his thoughts are with the victims and their families. [27]
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) condemned the attack [28] while noting that it occurred "just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue", in reference to Devlet Bahçeli's offer of parole to the PKK's Abdullah Öcalan the previous day. [29]
Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TAI) is a state-owned defence company in Turkey.
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.
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The Solution process, also known as Peace process or the PKK–Turkish peace process, was a peace process that aimed to resolve the conflict between the Turkey and PKK as part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The conflict has been ongoing since 1984 and resulted in some 40,000 mortal casualties and great economic losses for Turkey as well as high damage to the general population.
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Individuals and events related to 2024 in Turkey.
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