Attackers kill 4, injure 14 at Turkish state aviation site

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Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in an attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) headquarters on Wednesday, the government said, and witnesses said they heard gunfire and a loud explosion at the site near Ankara.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was holding talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin at the time, confirmed the toll, and condemned what he said was a “heinous terrorist attack”.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that two attackers were killed in what he called a terrorist attack, adding three of the injured were in critical condition. TV broadcasters earlier showed footage of armed assailants entering the TUSAS building.

“Two terrorists were neutralised in the terror attack on the TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan site. Sadly, we have 3 martyrs and 14 wounded in the attack,” Yerlikaya said, referring to the Aerospace Industries.

The cause and perpetrators of the blast and subsequent gunfire remained unclear. No group had claimed responsibility. Prosecutors have launched an investigation, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Some media reports claimed a suicide attack had occurred and that there were hostages inside the building, though officials have not confirmed this.

Witnesses told Reuters that employees inside the building were taken by authorities to shelters and no one was permitted to leave for a few hours. They said the blasts they heard may have taken place at different exits as employees were leaving work for the day.

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

Local media broadcast footage showing clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town some 40 kilometres north of Ankara.

The incident happened as Erdogan was meeting Putin at a summit in Kazan, with the Russian leader expressing his condolences over the attack.

Media outlets which had been showing live footage from the scene were forced to halt their broadcasts after Turkiye’s media watchdog ordered a blackout of images from the site.

TUSAS is Turkey’s largest aerospace manufacturer, currently producing training craft, combat and civilian helicopters, as well as developing the country’s first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN.

Owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the government, it employs more than 10,000 people.

The attack drew condemnation from Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu as well as opposition leader Ozgur Ozel, who heads the CHP.

“I condemn the terrorist attack against TAI facilities in Kahramankazan … I condemn terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from,” Ozel wrote on X.

President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the terrorist attack, extending his condolences and expressing solidarity with the government and people of Turkiye.

He said Pakistan stood in full solidarity with the Turkish people in this difficult time. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in this cowardly attack, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured,” he added.

He said that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations was a global menace and Pakistan, having endured the scourge of terrorism, understood the pain and suffering caused by such brutal acts. He emphasised that terrorists were enemies of peace and humanity, reiterating the need for united efforts by the international community to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and ensure a secure future for all nations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also echoed similar sentiments.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned the attack and said the military alliance would stand with its ally Turkiye. The European Union delegation in Turkiye also condemned the attack.

“I just spoke with [President] Erdogan about the terror attack in Ankara. My message was clear: Nato stands with Turkiye,” Rutte wrote on X.

Erdogan in Russia

The blast occurred as Erdogan was with Putin in the Russian city of Kazan for the Brics summit of major emerging market nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“I would like to express my condolences in connection with the terror attack,” Putin told him at the start of their meeting.

The Turkish city of Istanbul is currently hosting a major trade fair for the defence and aerospace industries at the moment, visited this week by Ukraine’s top diplomat. Turkey’s defence sector, which is known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for some 80 percent of the nation’s export revenues. Contracts worth $10.2 billion were signed last year, according to Haluk Gorgun, head of Turkey’s state Defence Industry Agency (SSB). In the first eight months of this year, defence export revenues reached $3.7 billion, up nearly 10 percent from same period a year earlier, Gorgun said. The last attack in Turkey took place in January when a man was shot dead by two gunmen who opened fire inside a Catholic church in Istanbul. That attack was claimed by Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. In October 2023, two policemen were injured in an attack in the government district in Ankara. Police shot dead one assailant while the other died in an apparent suicide blast outside the interior ministry. That attack was claimed by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Additional reporting by Nadir Guramani.