Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in Iraq, Syria following attack on defense company

The Turkish air force struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria, apparently in retaliation for an attack on a major state defense company that killed five people and injured more than 20 others.

The Defense Ministry said more than 30 targets were destroyed in the air offensive, without providing details on the locations affected. All kinds of precautions were taken to prevent civilians from being injured.

The strike came hours after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire on the aerospace and defense company TUSAS.

The two attackers, a man and a woman, were also killed, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.

Yerlikaya said the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, was believed to be behind the attack on the defense company.

His comments were echoed by Defense Minister Yasar Guler, who said: “We will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”

Drones helping fight targeted Kurdish militants

Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes against the PKK, based in Iraq, and against a Kurdish militia in Syria affiliated with the militants.

There was no immediate statement from the PKK.

“I condemn this heinous terrorist attack,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in Russia.

TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles civil and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and other industrial defense and space systems. Its drones played a key role in Turkey gaining the upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants.

The attack came a day after the leader of Turkey's far-right nationalist party allied with Erdogan raised the possibility that the jailed PKK leader could be granted parole if he renounced violence and dissolved his organization.

Abdullah Öcalan's group is fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey, in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its allies. Westerners.

The country's pro-Kurdish political party, which also condemned the TUSAS attack, stressed that it occurred at a time when the possibility of dialogue to end the conflict had emerged.

Turkish media reported that the attackers arrived at the entrance to the TUSAS complex on Wednesday in a taxi.

One of the victims was identified as mechanical engineer Zahide Guclu, who had gone to the entrance to collect flowers sent by her husband, state-run Anadolu Agency.

The taxi driver was also killed by the attackers and his body was found in the trunk of the vehicle, the agency reported.

Security camera footage, broadcast on television, showed a man in civilian clothes wearing a backpack and holding an assault rifle.

The Minister of the Interior indicated that security teams had been dispatched as soon as the attack began, around 3:30 p.m.

Widespread condemnation

Numerous gunshots were heard after security forces entered the site, the DHA news agency and other media reported. Helicopters were seen flying overhead.

Authorities temporarily banned coverage of the attack and limited access to social media sites.

Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the aim of the attack was Turkey's success in the defense sector.

The Iraqi embassy in Ankara issued a statement condemning the attack. The embassy affirms Iraq's firm position in its rejection of terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestations, and expresses the solidarity of the Government and people of Iraq with the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey. Earlier this year, Iraq announced a ban on the PKK.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres both expressed solidarity with Turkey.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also denounced the attack. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go to the families of the victims,” he said on X.