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The Turkish government continues to launch counterattacks on PKK rebel bases. Photo/Reuters
ANKARA – The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is in the spotlight after Turkey blamed the party for Sunday’s (1/10/2023) suicide explosion in front of the Interior Ministry in Ankara. The PKK has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack.
Within hours of the attack, Turkey launched airstrikes in northern Iraq, targeting 20 PKK positions. Ankara has long claimed that the PKK is taking refuge across the border in Iraq’s Kurdish provinces.
The PKK has been designated a “terrorist organization” by Ankara and its NATO allies, which condemned Sunday’s attack as “terrorism”.
So, what is the story behind this attack? Here are 4 traces of the hostility between the Turkish Government and the PKK Rebels.
1. Attacks That Rocked Ankara
Photo/Reuters
On Sunday, a car with two men inside stopped at the gates of the Ministry of Interior in the Kizilay neighborhood of the Turkish capital.
Security camera footage showed the attackers getting out of the car and the person in the passenger seat rushing toward the gate carrying an assault rifle or rocket launcher before being overwhelmed by the explosion. Then, the second person started shooting.
Turkish authorities said the first assailant was killed when he detonated a bomb on himself, and the second assailant was shot dead. Two police officers were slightly injured.
The attackers are believed to have started their operation in Kayseri, 260km southeast of Ankara where they allegedly killed a veterinarian and took his vehicle to avoid arousing suspicion in Ankara.
A Russian-made RPO-A Shmel rocket launcher was found at the scene.
2. Attack Executed by the Brigade of Immortals
Photo/Reuters
A statement attributed to the PKK, claiming they were behind the blast. This was reported by the pro-Kurdish news agency ANF
