Kurdistan Workers' Party-PKK-behind-Ankara-Türkiye attack – Newsweek

A recent attack on the headquarters of a major defense company in Ankara, the Turkish capital, has brought the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, back to the forefront.

The banned Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in Ankara that left at least five people dead and more than 20 injured at the premises of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS).

Two agents, described as members of the PKK's “Immortal Battalion,” targeted the area, killing five people and injuring more than 20, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

The two attackers, a man and a woman, commandeered a taxi to reach the TUSAS compound, where they detonated explosives and engaged security forces.

The woman allegedly committed suicide with an explosive after being injured, while the man threw hand grenades before exploding in a nearby building, Yerlikaya said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking later at a defense industry event in Istanbul, condemned the attackers as “scoundrels”, saying: “We will continue to crush those who think they can turn us back with such betrayal. »

What is the PKK and why are there conflicts in Türkiye?

Turkey has been in conflict with the PKK since 1984, when the group launched an armed insurgency seeking greater autonomy and rights for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.

Described as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the group says its latest attack was a response to “massacres” carried out by Turkish forces in Kurdish regions.

Its target, TUSAS, a key part of Turkey's defense industry, produces military and civilian aircraft as well as drones, which have played a vital role in the country's operations against Kurdish forces.

In a statement following the attack, the PKK accused TUSAS of manufacturing weapons that “killed thousands of civilians, including children and women, in Kurdistan.”

List of Turkey's counterattack targets

Turkey quickly responded with a wave of airstrikes on PKK-linked sites in northern Iraq, including tunnels, bases and storage depots, according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

Citing Turkish defense officials, the agency said 34 PKK-linked targets had been destroyed. Other strikes have targeted the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, which Turkey has long suspected of being affiliated with the PKK.

The SDF countered that the strikes killed at least 12 civilians, describing the targets as “bakeries, a power plant and local police checkpoints.”

In Sinjar, northern Iraq, an Iraqi security official confirmed that Turkish strikes had also killed five Yazidis. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Far-right nationalist leader demands Öcalan's denunciation

This latest escalation comes amid timid efforts at dialogue aimed at ending a conflict now in its fifth decade.

Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey's far-right Nationalist Movement Party, recently suggested that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is imprisoned for life, could be paroled if he renounces violence and dissolves the organization. Öcalan, detained on a prison island near Istanbul, has since expressed his desire to “work for peace”, relayed his nephew.

Although Öcalan has been imprisoned in Türkiye since 1999, he remains a symbolic leader.

The PKK's military wing, the People's Defense Center, insisted, however, that the attack on TUSAS was not linked to any “political agenda” and had been planned well in advance.

The Turkish government responded by stepping up its internal security operations, with the Interior Ministry announcing the detention of 176 PKK suspects across the country.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press