At least five people have been killed and 22 individuals have been wounded in an attack on the headquarters of Turkey’s aerospace and defense company, near the capital Ankara, according to Turkey’s interior minister.
Turkey’s Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X on Wednesday that two terrorists were neutralized in the incident at Turkey’s aerospace headquarters.
He said that sadly, they had 5 martyrs and 22 wounded in that attack. he also added that 3 of the injured had already been discharged from the hospital. And 19 of them are under treatment.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin at the time of the attack. He commended said was a “heinous terrorist attack”.
The footage from the incident was broadcast by local media just following the attack, and it took place at 03:30 pm local time (12:30 GMT).
It showed huge clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan. It is a small town 40 kilometers north of Ankara.
As per the local media news, there was a loud explosion at the site and subsequent gunfire.
Security camera images aired by broadcasters from the attack showed a man in plain clothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle. The images also showed a woman carrying a weapon.
Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said some 15,000 people work at the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) campus in Kahramankazan.
She said that there are claims that attackers who infiltrated took some of the workers hostage, but she added that they don’t have further details.
Koseoglu continued “Apparently, the attackers had information about the buildings, about the entrances”. She also added that many of the experts now suggest that this was a strategically planned terrorist attack.
However, there are no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. But, the Justice Minister said an investigation had been started.
Yerlikaya said that it was probably linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It has a decades-long rebellion against the Turkish government.
Yerlikaya said that the identification process and search for fingerprints are continuing, and they will declare which terrorist organization was behind the attack.
Yerlikaya added that how this action is carried out is most probably linked to the PKK.
Earlier this week, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), invited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to address parliament to announce his movement’s dissolution.
