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Local media reported explosion and gunfire at a state-run company near the country’s capital.
At least five people have been killed and 22 others wounded in an attack on the headquarters of Turkey’s aerospace and defence company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) near the capital Ankara, Turkey’s president has said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was holding talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin at the time of the attack on Wednesday, confirmed the toll, and condemned what he said was a “heinous terrorist attack”.
“Two terrorists were neutralised” in the incident at the headquarters of the state-run firm, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X. The minister said those killed included a male and a female attacker.
Footage from the scene broadcast by local media just after the attack, which took place at 3:30pm local time (12:30 GMT), showed huge clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town some 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Ankara.
According to local media reports, there was a loud explosion at the site and subsequent gunfire.
Security camera images from the attack, aired by broadcasters, showed a man in plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle. The images also appeared to show a woman carrying a weapon.
“Having looked at the images and spoken with sources, we’re talking about three attackers,” said Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Ankara. “There are claims that attackers who infiltrated took some of the workers as hostage, but we don’t have further details,” she said, adding that 15,000 people work at the company’s campus in Kahramankazan.
“Apparently, the attackers had information about the building, about the entrances,” Koseoglu continued, explaining that the attackers approached the employees’ entrance. “Many of the experts now suggest that this was a strategically planned terrorist attack.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the justice minister said an investigation had been opened.
Emergency services were dispatched to the site, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported.
‘Deeply concerning’
Turkish politicians and world leaders have condemned the attack, with Putin offering Erdogan his “condolences in connection with the terror attack” at the start of their meeting in the Russian city of Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit of major emerging market nations which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“NATO stands with our ally Turkey,” said the head of the alliance, Mark Rutte, in a post on X. “We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and are monitoring developments closely,” he added. Western capitals including Brussels and Berlin have condemned the attack.
Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) released a statement condemning the attack and saying he “condemns terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from”.
The main pro-Kurdish DEM party also condemned the attack, saying it was “noteworthy that the attack took place just as Turkish society was talking about a solution and the possibility of dialogue” with the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).
Earlier this week, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which belongs to Erdogan’s ruling coalition, invited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to address parliament to announce his movement’s dissolution. The group has waged a decades-long insurgency against the government.
The attack occurred as a major trade fair for the defence and aerospace industries was taking place in Istanbul, which was visited this week by Ukraine’s top diplomat.
TUSAS is one of Turkey’s most important defence and aviation companies. It produces KAAN, the country’s first national combat aircraft, among other projects.
Turkey’s defence sector, which is widely known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for nearly 80 percent of the nation’s export revenues with revenues expected to top $10.2bn in 2023.
