A Turkish state-run defence company called Turkish Aerospace Industries – the Turkish abbreviation being TUSAS – has been the target of an apparent terrorist attack – but what is it?
TUSAS designs and manufactures civilian and military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other defence industry and space systems.
That includes making F-16 fighter jets – under license from the US.
That helps make it one of the biggest defence industry manufacturers in Turkey.
Vice president Cevdet Yilmaz said the target of the attack was Turkey’s “success in the defence industry”.
“It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of defence industry,” he tweeted.
UAVs, like those produced by TUSAS, have been regularly used by the Turkish military in its fight against Kurdish militants within the country and across the border in Iraq.
It’s important to stress that no-one has claimed responsibility, and it’s still unclear at this stage who was behind the attack.
