The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) took responsibility this Sunday for the suicide attack that hit the Turkish city of Ankara this morning and left two injured.
“A team from our Immortal Brigade carried out a sacrificial action against the Turkish Interior Ministry,” an unnamed PKK source close to the Kurdish movement told the ANF news agency.
This Sunday, after the attack that injured two police officers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that “terrorists” will never be able to achieve their objectives.
The loud explosion outside the ministry, followed by a fire, was heard several kilometers from the site of the attack.
The targeted district is home to several other ministries and the Turkish parliament, which reopened as planned in the afternoon with a speech by Erdogan. “The villains who threaten the peace and security of citizens have not achieved their objectives and will never achieve them,” he said.
The Ministry of the Interior said that two attackers arrived in a commercial vehicle, around 9:30 a.m., at the “entrance door of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of the Interior, and carried out a bomb attack.”
The suspected terrorists were killed and two police officers were injured. The attack was planned to coincide with the opening session of the legislative season in the Turkish Parliament.
The PKK said this was a response to the Turkish military’s “inhumane practices” against the Kurdish population and the group.
The military frequently carries out operations against the PKK and its allies in southwestern Turkey.
“If these genocidaires continue committing these crimes, the legitimate actions of revolutionary justice will continue,” he assured.
According to the Turkish press, gunshots were also heard in the Parliament neighborhood, an area where many ministries are located. Several police vehicles and ambulances were stationed in this area.
Erdogan no longer expects anything from the EU
In the inaugural session of the country’s parliament this Sunday, the president of Turkey stated that he no longer “expects anything” for the European Union (EU) to join the group of 27, accusing Brussels of leaving Turkey “in the doors of his house for 40 years.
“We have fulfilled all the promises we made to the EU, but they have fulfilled almost none of theirs,” denounced Recep Erdogan, stressing that he will not “tolerate any new demands or conditions for Turkey’s accession process.”
“If the EU intends to end the accession process, which only exists on paper, that will be its decision,” he added.
Erdogan’s fury comes after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accused Turkey of convicting a man of belonging to a terrorist organization based on the ByLock encrypted messaging app.
Ankara considers ByLock to be the preferred communication tool of those allegedly responsible for the 2016 coup attempt, which left 250 dead and was followed by mass detentions and evacuations unprecedented in the country’s modern history.
The Turkish government attributed the coup attempt to the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (Fetö), of which it was once an ally.
“The ECtHR’s decision is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he continued.
According to Erdogan, the ECtHR’s decision “will not bring any relief to the scoundrels who are members of Fetö.”
“Turkey will not retreat in the fight against this band of traitors. It will not allow any return to the past,” he insisted.
Source: TSF
