The Turkish Defense Ministry's statement was brief but clear:
"Airstrikes have been carried out against terrorist targets in northern Iraq and Syria, and 32 targets were destroyed. Our airstrikes will continue with determination."
The attacks are a retaliation for the attack on a complex outside the capital Ankara, which belongs to a state-owned company in the aviation and defense industry. According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, at least five people were killed and twenty-two injured. Additionally, two of the perpetrators, a man and a woman, were killed.
"Unfortunately, Tusas, the core of our local and national defense industry in Ankara, was subjected to a terrorist attack," Yerlikaya writes in a statement.
"Highly likely" PKK
In the evening, Defense Minister Yasar Güler pointed out the Kurdish PKK as responsible. Yerlikaya separately stated at a press conference that PKK was "highly likely" behind the attack.
Both PKK and the terrorist group IS have carried out attacks in Turkey over the past year.
Several Turkish media outlets report that the "terrorists" took a taxi to the location during a shift change. One of them is said to have detonated a bomb while the others entered and started shooting.
CNN Turk and other TV channels have published images from surveillance cameras showing smoke pillars and men with automatic rifles. However, the state media council RTÜK issued a ban on publishing images and audio from the site late in the afternoon.
Rutte condemns
State-controlled TAI, also known as Tusas, is a technical center linked to the defense industry and is responsible for the development and production of aircraft and aircraft platforms in Turkey. This includes drones and parts for F-16 fighter jets.
Most of the employees at TAI have been taken to a safe area, according to reports.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte writes
that they "condemn terrorism in all its forms and are closely following the development.""I have spoken with Erdogan about the terrorist attack in Ankara. My message was clear: NATO stands by Turkey's side," he writes.
