<\/p>\n
Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries\u2019 (TAI) headquarters on Wednesday, the government said, and witnesses said they heard gunfire and a loud explosion at the site near Ankara.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cheinous terrorist attack\u201d.<\/p>\n
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya pointed the finger at the outlawed Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the government, over the deadly attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe identification process and the search for fingerprints are continuing and we will say which terrorist organisation was behind the attack \u2026 The way in which this action was carried out is very probably linked to the PKK,\u201d said Yerlikaya, who raised the death toll to five with 22 injured.<\/p>\n
He earlier said<\/a> 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 showed footage of armed assailants entering the TUSAS building.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo terrorists were neutralised in the terror attack on the TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan site. Sadly, we have 3 martyrs and 14 wounded in the attack,\u201d Yerlikaya said, referring to the Aerospace Industries.<\/p>\n Prosecutors have launched an investigation, state-run Anadolu Agency<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n Some media reports claimed a suicide attack had occurred and that there were hostages inside the building, though officials have not confirmed this.<\/p>\n Witnesses told Reuters<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The incident happened as Erdogan was meeting Putin at a summit in Kazan, with the Russian leader expressing his condolences over the attack.<\/p>\n Media outlets which had been showing live footage from the scene were forced to halt their broadcasts after Turkiye\u2019s media watchdog ordered a blackout of images from the site.<\/p>\n TUSAS is Turkey\u2019s largest aerospace manufacturer, currently producing training craft, combat and civilian helicopters, as well as developing the country\u2019s first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN.<\/p>\n Owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the government, it employs more than 10,000 people.<\/p>\n The attack drew condemnation from Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu as well as opposition leader Ozgur Ozel, who heads the CHP.<\/p>\n \u201cI condemn the terrorist attack against TAI facilities in Kahramankazan \u2026 President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the terrorist attack, extending his condolences and expressing solidarity with the government and people of Turkiye.<\/p>\n He said Pakistan stood in full solidarity with the Turkish people in this difficult time. \u201cWe 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also echoed<\/a> similar sentiments.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government of Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for Turkiye\u2019s efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism and stands in solidarity with the brotherly people of Turkiye.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that the brave Turkish nation, with its characteristic grit and determination, will defeat the menace of terrorism,\u201d the Foreign Office said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI just spoke with [President] Erdogan about the terror attack in Ankara. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to express my condolences in connection with the terror attack,\u201d Putin told him at the start of their meeting.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s top diplomat.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s defence sector, which is known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for some 80 per cent of the nation\u2019s export revenues.<\/p>\n Contracts worth $10.2 billion were signed last year, according to Haluk Gorgun, head of Turkey\u2019s state Defence Industry Agency (SSB).<\/p>\n Gorgun said defence export revenues reached $3.7 bn in the first eight months of this year, up nearly 10pc from the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n That attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State group.<\/p>\n In October 2023, two policemen were injured in an attack in the government district in Ankara.<\/p>\n Police shot dead one assailant while the other died in an apparent suicide blast outside the interior ministry.<\/p>\n That attack was claimed by the PKK which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Nadir Guramani and Abdullah Momand.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries\u2019 (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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/10\/232106093ebbd2e.jpg?r=210655","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI condemn terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from,\u201d Ozel wrote on X.<\/p>\n
\nMy message was clear: Nato stands with Turkiye,\u201d Rutte wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\nErdogan in Russia<\/h2>\n