Attackers kill 5 people, injure 22 at Turkish aeronautical site

Two attackers killed five people and injured 22 others Wednesday in what Ankara called a terrorist attack on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries, where witnesses said they heard gunshots and an explosion.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said both attackers were killed after the attack, adding that two of the injured were in critical condition. Television channels showed images of armed attackers entering the TUSAS building near Ankara.

“Two terrorists were neutralized during the terrorist attack on the TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan site,” Yerlikaya said.

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

Yerlikaya said the perpetrators were “most likely” members of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“The form of the act shows that it is very likely that the attack was carried out by the PKK. Once the identification is completed and other evidence becomes clearer, we will share more concrete information with you,” a- he declared.

Turkish Air Forces carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq and northern Syria and destroyed 32 PKK targets, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday evening, adding that many PKK members were killed .

Prosecutors have opened an investigation, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin, at a BRICS conference in the Russian city of Kazan, condemned the attack and accepted Putin’s condolences. NATO, the United States and the European Union also condemned the attack.

Witnesses told Reuters that employees inside the building were taken to shelters by authorities and no one was allowed out for a few hours. They said the explosions they heard may have occurred at different exits as employees left work for the day.

Witnesses later said the evacuation of staff from the TUSAS campus began and buses were allowed to leave once the operation was complete.

Television channels showed footage of a damaged gate and footage of an exchange of gunfire in a parking lot, as well as the two attackers carrying assault rifles and backpacks as they entered the building. Ambulances and helicopters arrived later.

TUSAS is Turkey’s largest aerospace manufacturer, currently producing trainer aircraft, combat helicopters and civil helicopters, and developing the country’s first indigenous combat aircraft, the KAAN. Owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the government, it employs more than 10,000 people.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned the attack and said the military alliance would stand with its ally Turkey.