Türkiye hits new PKK targets in Iraq days after Ankara blast

ANKARA

Turkish warplanes have carried out new airstrikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq, days after a suicide attack in the Turkish capital Ankara.

A statement from the Defense Ministry said the air raids hit 16 targets, including caves, shelters and depots, used by the PKK in the neighboring region. It added the operation aimed to "protect Türkiye's borders and prevent terror attacks."

It was Türkiye's second cross-border aerial operation against PKK targets in northern Iraq since the attack in Ankara on Oct. 1.

Earlier, police conducted raids in several Turkish provinces, detaining close to 1,000 people, including dozens with alleged links to PKK members.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 55 people suspected of being part of the PKK's “intelligence structure” were detained in 16 of the country's 81 provinces. At least 12 other suspected PKK members were rounded up in a separate operation in five provinces, Yerlikaya wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A branch of the PKK claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, according to a news website close to the organization. In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

The minister later said that an additional 928 people suspected of holding unlicensed firearms or being connected to firearms smuggling were arrested during the operation. He added that more than 840 firearms were confiscated during the operation.

On Oct. 1, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near an entrance to the Interior Ministry, hours before President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was set to address the parliament as it returned from its summer recess. A second would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police.

Two police officers were slightly wounded in the attack. The suspects arrived at the scene inside a vehicle they seized from a veterinarian in the central city of Kayseri after shooting him in the head, officials said.

Hours after authorities identified one of the assailants as a PKK member, Türkiye's air force carried out airstrikes on PKK sites in northern Iraq. The Defense Ministry said a large number of PKK militants were “neutralized” in the strikes.

Turkish military and officials use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered, were killed, or captured.

Second assailant in Ankara attack identified as PKK member

The Interior Ministry has revealed that the identity of the second assailant in the recent attack in the capital Ankara matches that of the previously identified attacker – both individuals were PKK members.

The announcement came after the completion of DNA analysis.

A statement by the ministry confirmed that the second attacker was Özkan Şahin, a member of the PKK/KCK. Similarly, the first attacker was identified as Hasan Oğuz, who went by the codename Kanivar Erdal and was also affiliated with the PKK/KCK.

Meanwhile, reports in local media have raised suspicions that the attackers, along with their arsenal, may have entered Türkiye from Syria.

The current investigation is concentrating on the possibility that the assailants infiltrated the country via paramotors from locations such as Tell Rifaat or Manbij, daily Hürriyet reported.

To address the potential route, gendarmerie units have been dispatched to search the mountainous region situated between the central city of Kayseri's Develi district and the southern city of Adana's Saimbeyli district. Officials had confirmed that the attackers were spotted in Develi as they shot a veterinarian in the head to seize his car.