At least five dead in attack on aerospace company near Ankara, Turkey | News

At least five people were killed and 22 others injured in an attack on the headquarters of the Turkish aerospace company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) near the capital Ankara, according to the Turkish Interior Minister.

“Two terrorists have been neutralized,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, we suffered five martyrs and 22 wounded in the attack. Three of the injured have already been discharged from hospital, 19 of them are undergoing treatment,” he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in talks with Vladimir Putin in Russia at the time of the attack, condemned what he called a “heinous terrorist attack.”

Footage of the crime scene broadcast by local media shortly after the attack at 3:30 p.m. local time (12:30 GMT) showed huge clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town of about 40 kilometers ( 25 miles) north of Ankara.

According to local media reports, there was a loud explosion and subsequent gunfire at the scene.

Surveillance camera images of the attack broadcast by broadcasters showed a man in civilian clothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle. The images also appeared to show a woman carrying a gun.

Al Jazeera's Sinem Koseoglu reported from Ankara that about 15,000 people work at the TUSAS campus in Kahramankazan.

“There are allegations that attackers who entered took some of the workers hostage, but we have no further details,” she said.

“Apparently the attackers had information about the building, about the entrances,” Koseoglu continued, explaining that the attackers approached the employees’ entrance. “Many experts now suspect that it was a strategically planned terrorist attack.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the justice minister said an investigation had been launched. Yerlikaya said it was “probably linked” to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the government for decades.

“The identification process and fingerprint search continue, and we will say which terrorist organization is behind the attack,” Yerlikaya said, adding that “the way this action was carried out is very likely linked to the PKK stands”.

Earlier this week, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), part of Erdogan's ruling coalition, invited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to a speech in parliament to announce the dissolution of his movement.

“Deeply worrying”

Turkish politicians and world leaders have condemned the attack, with Putin offering his “condolences in connection with the terrorist attack” to Erdogan at the start of their meeting in the Russian city of Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit of major emerging economies joining forces has Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“NATO stands with our ally Turkey,” alliance chief Mark Rutte said in a post on X. “We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and are closely monitoring developments,” he added. Western capitals, including Brussels and Berlin, have condemned the attack.

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Özel of the Republican People's Party (CHP) released a statement condemning the attack and saying he “condemns terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from.”

The main pro-Kurdish DEM party also condemned the attack, saying it was “remarkable that the attack took place at a time when Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue” with the PKK.

The attack occurred during a major defense and aerospace industry trade fair in Istanbul, attended this week by Ukraine's top diplomat.

TUSAS is one of Turkey's most important defense and aerospace companies. Among other things, it produces KAAN, the country's first national combat aircraft.

Turkey's defense sector, widely known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for nearly 80 percent of the country's export revenue, with revenue expected to exceed $10.2 billion in 2023.