A banned Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of the defense company TUSAS in Ankara that killed five people. The attack was in response to Turkish actions in Kurdish regions, according to the PKK. Two members of the so-called “Immortal Battalion” stormed the premises, killing four TUSAS employees before being killed themselves in a subsequent battle. Turkey immediately launched airstrikes on suspected PKK locations in Iraq and Syria following the attack. There are signs of a possible new attempt at dialogue to end the long-standing conflict between the PKK and Turkey, with the possibility of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan being granted parole if he renounces violence. However, the PKK’s military wing claimed the attack was not related to the latest “political agenda,” stating it was planned before the potential dialogue. TUSAS was chosen as a target due to the weapons produced there killing civilians in Kurdistan. Turkish warplanes intensified airstrikes on PKK sites in northern Iraq, resulting in the deaths of five Yazidis. In Syria, Turkish airstrikes killed 12 civilians. The PKK fighters reported no casualties in the airstrikes. Police in Istanbul detained at least 35 people suspected of PKK links. The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and its allies.
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Kurdish militants assert accountability for fatal assault on Turkish defense company
