(BBC News) At least five people have been killed and 22 injured in an attack at the headquarters of an aviation company near the Turkish capital Ankara, authorities have confirmed.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that two attackers, a woman and a man, have been “neutralized”, adding that the attack had most likely involved Kurdish rebel group the PKK.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Turkey’s defence ministry announced late on Wednesday that air strikes had been launched at Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Various videos from the attack earlier on Wednesday show at least two people firing guns around the entrance of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), which is located some 40 km outside the capital.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said four of the victims were TAI employees. Local media had earlier reported that the attackers killed a cab driver before taking his vehicle to carry out the attack.
The attack took place around the time of a shift change, and staff had to be directed to shelters, they said.
Yerlikaya confirmed that seven special ops forces members were among the 22 who were injured in the attack.
The PKK is banned as a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the US and UK, and has been fighting against the Turkish state since the 1980s for greater rights for the country’s significant Kurdish minority.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who is in Russia for the BRICS summit -– condemned what he called a “vile terror attack” during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in remarks broadcast live on TV.
He later posted a lengthy statement on X, saying that security forces acted quickly to neutralize the threat, and that “no terrorist organisation, no evil focus targeting our security will be able to achieve their goals.”
Turkish authorities have imposed a media blackout on details of the attack, and users in large areas of the country have reported not being able to use social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
The president of Turkey’s Radio and TV Supreme Council, Ebubekir Sahin, warned that all images relating to the incident should be removed from social media, and urged users not to share images that “will serve the purpose of terrorism.”
TAI is a key player in Turkey’s aerospace industry, designing, developing and manufacturing various aircraft for commercial and military use.
It is the company designated by the NATO member to be the licensed manufacturer for the US-designed F-16 fighter jets. TAI also plays a role in modernizing older aircraft for use by the Turkish military.
The firm’s two principal owners are the Turkish Armed Forces and a civilian arm of Turkey’s government charged with improving its defence capabilities and managing military procurement.
The incident took place as a major trade fair for defence and aerospace industries was going on in Istanbul this week.
