Defense Minister Yasar Güler has pointed out the Kurdish PKK as responsible for the terrorist attack directed against a complex where a state-owned company in the aviation and defense industry operates. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday that the PKK, labeled as a terrorist organization, "most likely" was behind the attack.
Late on Wednesday evening, Turkey responded by attacking PKK targets in Syria and Iraq.
"A total of 47 terrorist targets, 29 of them in Iraq and 18 in northern Syria, have been hit with full precision and many terrorists have been neutralized," says Güler in a statement on Thursday, reports state-owned Anatolia.
Investigation initiated
The SDF alliance is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is the armed branch of the PYD, the largest political party among Kurds in Syria. Turkey equates YPG and PYD with PKK.
Ankara's chief prosecutor has initiated an investigation into Wednesday's terrorist attack outside Turkey's capital.
I condemn this despicable attack on the Turkish aviation industry's facilities, says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Taxi driver murdered
Turkish authorities have made public the identities of the five victims, writes Anatolia. One of the dead was a taxi driver who was murdered in connection with the perpetrators stealing his car to get to the site. The others had different tasks at the company that was subjected to the attack.
Two perpetrators, whose identities have not been established, were killed.
22 people were injured and taken to hospital for care after the attack. Other personnel were referred to shelters for security reasons.
