Reuters. Two attackers killed five people and wounded 22 others on Wednesday (October 23) in what Ankara called a terrorist attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters, where witnesses said they heard gunfire and an explosion.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said authorities believe the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group was responsible for the attack. Both attackers were killed after the attack, Yerlikaya said, adding two of the injured are in critical condition. TV broadcasters showed footage of armed assailants entering the TUSAS building near Ankara.
Yerlikaya also said the perpetrators were likely members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin at a BRICS conference in the Russian city of Kazan, condemned the attack and accepted Putin's condolences. NATO, the United States and the European Union also condemned the attack.
Witnesses told Reuters that employees inside the building had been taken to shelters by the authorities and no one had been permitted to leave for a few hours.
TUSAS is Turkey's largest aerospace manufacturer, currently producing a 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 government, it employs more than 10,000 people.