PKK claims responsibility for Ankara attack as Turkey strikes on Syria and Iraq kill 27 people

The armed group said hit on defence company Tuas was a warning and message to Turkey

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters preparing rockets to be fired towards SDF-controlled areas in north-eastern Syria. AFP

The Kurdistan Workers' Party on Friday claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack on a defence company in Ankara even as Turkish air strikes on suspected Kurdish militants in the past 24 hours killed at least 27 civilians in northern and eastern Syria.

The PKK said it carried out "self-sacrificing" attack against Turkey's aerospace and defence company Tusas as a "warning and message" to the Turkish government, according to a statement carried by PKK-affiliated Firat News Agency.

Seven people, including two assailants, were killed and 22 others were injured in the PKK attack on Wednesday. Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler had earlier blamed the PKK and said Ankara would “pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated and we will make them pay for what they have done.”

The PKK, on its part, condemned the two-day strikes launched by Turkey on targets in Syria and Iraq just hours after the attack.

"An honourable military army cannot rain down cannons and missiles on civilians and civilian infrastructure in such a despicable manner and boast about it by saying, 'we took revenge,'" it said in the statement.

Turkish forces “dramatically escalated their aerial and ground attacks” in north and east Syria overnight, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding it recorded about 45 drone strikes. Strikes also targeted areas of northern Iraq.

The monitor and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said Turkish strikes targeted infrastructure, including key water, power and gas stations. Syrian state media said a power station in Al Hasakah was damaged by “Turkish occupation aircraft” which led to power cuts in the area.

One of the strikes on Manbij killed an 11-year-old girl and injured her three brothers, aged between 8 and 13, the Syrian Democratic Forces said early on Friday.

Eight workers were killed and 15 were injured in overnight Turkish bombardment of the Al Swediya oil refinery in Derik, northern Syria, Sohr said.

Turkey views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an offshoot of the PKK. Turkish troops as well as Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have launched several attacks targeting Kurdish militia and the SDF since they took control of parts of northern Syria in 2016.

“Turkey indiscriminately and unjustifiably bombards our areas, targeting civilian, service and health centres,” Mazloum Abdi, General Commander of the SDF, said on X. “This is a war crime.”

“With the air operation, 34 targets, including caves, shelters, warehouses and facilities used by the terrorist organisation, which were considered to contain responsible terrorists, were destroyed,” a statement by the Turkish Defence Ministry said about the strikes in northern Iraq.

The ministry said it had struck areas in Mount Gara in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, as well as Qandil mountains and Sinjar.

Turkey regularly strikes alleged PKK positions in the Kurdish region and other parts of northern Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this year that Turkey was close to securing its border with Iraq where Ankara has posted hundreds of troops for cross-border operations.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy and rights for Kurds in south-eastern Turkey, in a decades-long insurgency since the 1980s. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its western allies.

Attack retaliation

Two shooters opened fire and set off explosives at Tusas, marking the first major attack in Turkey after a period of relative calm following a wave of attacks in 2015 and 2016. PKK attacks were typically directed at Turkish security troops, so the targeting of a defence and aerospace company marks a new tactic.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya identified the assailants as PKK members Ali Orek and Mine Sevjin Alcicek.

Victims of the attack were buried in Ankara on Thursday. Zahide Guclu Ekici, Hasan Huseyin Cambaz and Cengiz Coskun were killed alongside two other civilians.

"We have learnt that this terrorist attack was a terrorist infiltration from Syria," Mr Erdogan told reporters on a plane returning from the BRICs summit in Russia, state-run Anadolu reported.

"Operations were carried out at 40 different points throughout the night. It is obvious that terrorists were made to pay a very heavy price with these operations," he said of the strikes in Syria. Mr Erdogan said the fight against "terrorism" would continue, indicating that further strikes are likely to be launched at alleged militant targets in Syria.

Turkish police detained also 176 suspected PKK members in operations across Turkey, Mr Yerlikaya said on Friday.

Mr Erdogan said he had also asked Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch supporter of the Syrian government, for assistance in the normalisation of ties of Syria, according to NTV. Damascus has condemned Turkish intervention in the country and its support of rebels fighting against President Bashar Al Assad. A normalisation of ties may bolster Turkey's efforts against Kurdish militia groups in Syria.

"America carries this terrorist organisation in its arms for a while, but when that time is up, it has to leave them alone," Mr Erdogan said of the US's support of the SDF.