Türkiye's fight against terrorism to continue with determination: Erdoğan

KAZAN

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the deadly terrorist attack on the facilities of the aerospace and defense company TUSAŞ in Ankara on Oct. 23 during the BRICS meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Kazan province.

“I condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish mercy on our martyrs,” Erdoğan said. 

He noted that this “despicable” terror attack actually targeted the country’s “survival, peace and defense initiatives."

“From the first moment of the terrorist attack, our security forces quickly intervened and neutralized the terrorists,” he said, adding, “Our nation should know that the dirty hands reaching out to Türkiye will definitely be broken; no structure, no terrorist organization, no axis of evil targeting our security will be able to achieve their goals.”

“Our fight against all kinds of terrorist threats and their supporters will continue with determination, resolve and in a multi-dimensional manner,” he further emphasized.

The blast occurred as Erdoğan was in the Russian city of Kazan for the BRICS summit. 

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli condemned the terrorist attack.

“No treacherous and hostile calculation will hold, no bloody and treacherous project will be able to hold against our national unity and brotherhood,” Bahçeli said.

In another message of condemnation, Erdoğan's chief advisor Akif Çağatay Kılıç said: “We will not never and ever allow terrorist organizations to disrupt the unity and solidarity of our country, both inside and outside.”

The country’s Defense Minister Yaşar Güler expressed Ankara’s determination on its fight against terrorism.

“We will not rest until the last terrorist is neutralized, and we will avenge this act and their pain in kind. Everyone will see this,” Güler told reporters.

Following the terrorist attack, the country's Defense Industry Agency President Haluk Görgün and his delegation, as well as the general manager of the TUSAŞ left the SAHA EXPO in Istanbul for Ankara.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı, and Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy all condemned the attack.

The attack drew condemnation from several ministers, as well as the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel. 

"I condemn the terrorist attack against TUSAŞ facilities in Kahramankazan... I condemn terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from," Özel wrote on X.