Attack in Turkey – Police prevented second explosion. Attack in Turkey – Police prevented second explosion

The Ministry of the Interior speaks of a bomb attack

An explosion occurred in the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday morning. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on Platform X about a “bomb attack” near the ministry.

The Ministry of the Interior spoke of two ‘terrorists’, one of whom blew himself up in front of an entrance to the ministry. The second person involved was “neutralized”. Two police officers were slightly injured in a subsequent gun battle.

The background to the crime is unclear

The background to the attack is still unclear. It takes place on a symbolically important day: the Turkish parliament wanted to open the new legislature after the summer recess in the early afternoon. The attack reportedly took place in the vicinity of the parliament building. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected at the opening.

News blackout imposed

Initially, nothing was known about the identity of the attackers. Turkish media reported on Sunday about the exact course of the attack that the two attackers drove to the Ministry of Interior in a Renault Kangoo around 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. CEST).

Armed with guns, they tried to get past the guards into the ministry, but failed. One of the two then blew himself up. The Public Prosecution Service imposed a news blackout on the matter this morning, the Minister of Justice announced.

Not the first attack

There have been repeated attacks in Turkey in the past. In November 2022, a bomb exploded in Istanbul’s Istiklal shopping street, killing six people. According to the Turkish government, the attacker had ties to the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, which the Turkish government views as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK. The YPG denied being behind the attack. In 2016, twelve Germans were killed in a suicide bombing by the Islamic State terrorist militia in the historic center of Istanbul. (cst/sda/dpa)