The Turkish Parliament suffered a deadly attack when terrorists detonated bombs in the capital of Ankara.
The security services managed to intercept one of the attackers, who engaged in a shooting. NBC News reports:
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, while a second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said.
The attack occurred hours before Parliament was set to reopen after its three-month summer recess with an address by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Kurdish PKK group was blamed for the attacks. In response, the Turkish Army struck Kurdish militant targets in the North of Iraq.ABC News continues:
Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq on Sunday following a suicide attack on a government building in the Turkish capital, Turkey’s defense ministry announced.
Some 20 targets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, were “destroyed” in the latest aerial operation, including caves, shelters and depots, the ministry said, adding that a large number of PKK operatives were “neutralized” in the strikes.
Kurdish autonomy is a contentious issue in the region. The United States developed close ties with them during its fight against Saddam Hussein sein and later ISIS. However, it is also a treaty ally with Turkey which makes any pressure against that state difficult.
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