A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey’s armed forces’ headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed a Syrian Kurdish militia (YPG) fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for a suicide car bombing, and he vowed retaliation in both Syria and Iraq. The bombing has killed 28 people in the capital Ankara, most of whom were soldiers.
Davutoglu said the attack was clear evidence that the YPG – a Syrian Kurdish militia that has been supported by the United States in the fight against Islamic State in northern Syria – was a terrorist organisation and said that Turkey, a NATO member, expected cooperation from its allies in combating the group.
Within hours, Turkish warplanes bombed bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state and which Davutoglu accused of collaborating in the car bombing.
Turkey’s armed forces would continue their shelling of recent days of YPG positions in northern Syria, Davutoglu said, promising that those responsible would “pay the price”.
Yesterday’s attack was directly targeting Turkey and the perpetrator is the YPG and the divisive terrorist organization PKK. All necessary measures will be taken against them.Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish Prime Minister
Kurdish Militia Denial
The co-leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) denied that the affiliated YPG perpetrated the Ankara bombing and said Turkey was using the attack to justify an escalation in fighting in northern Syria.
We are completely refuting that....Davutoglu is preparing for something else because they are shelling us as you know for the past weekSaleh Muslim, PYD Co-leader
Turkey has said its shelling of YPG positions is a response, within its rules of engagement, to hostile fire coming across the border into Turkey, something Muslim also denied.
I can assure you not even one bullet is fired by the YPG into Turkey ... They don’t consider Turkey an enemy.Saleh Muslim, PYD Co-leader
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)