2023-10-01 09:36:02
Turkish security forces near the Interior Ministry in Ankara, after a bomb attack, Sunday October 1, 2023. CAGLA GURDOGAN / REUTERS
An explosion occurred on Sunday October 1 in the center of the Turkish capital, Ankara. The targeted district, close to Parliament, is home to numerous ministries. The Turkish Interior Ministry quickly described the explosion as” terrorist attack “.
“Two terrorists showed up in a light military vehicle around 9:30 a.m. [8 h 30, heure de Paris] in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of the Interior and carried out a bomb attack”reported Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. “One of the terrorists blew himself up and the other was neutralized. Two of our police officers were slightly injured” by the flames caused by the explosion, said Mr. Yerlikaya on (formerly Twitter).
The attack has, at this stage, not been claimed. The powerful explosion was heard several kilometers around, reported the AFP correspondent.
The Ankara General Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation and imposed a ban on access to the area of the attack.
The private television channel NTV also reported shootings in the completely cordoned off neighborhood and where numerous police vehicles and ambulances were deployed.
Numerous attacks in 2015-2016
This attack comes as Parliament is due to open its new working session during the day after the summer holidays and the head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was due to speak there, according to Turkish media.
During this parliamentary year, Parliament must validate Sweden’s entry into NATO. Since May 2022, Turkey has kept the Scandinavian country waiting by arguing its clemency towards “terrorists” and the Kurdish movements.
Read also: NATO: Turkey agrees to Sweden’s membership
Ankara was the scene of numerous attacks during the years 2015-2016, claimed by the Kurdish separatists of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or by the Islamic State (IS) organization. During the most recent one, in March 2016, a car bomb in the central district of Kilizay left 38 dead and 125 injured. The attack was attributed to TAK, a small radical group close to the PKK. In October 2015, an attack in front of Ankara’s central station, attributed to ISIS, left 109 dead.
The last attack recorded on Turkish territory, on November 13, 2022, in a shopping street in Istanbul (6 dead, 81 injured), was not claimed but was attributed to the PKK by the authorities.
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