Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Ankara blast: Turkey PM says Syria Kurds to blame


  • 15 minutes ago

Media captionEyewitness Natalie Galley: "I heard a huge explosion"
Turkey's prime minister says the deadly bombing in Ankara was carried out by Kurdish YPG militia based in Syria.
Ahmet Davutoglu said the fighters were helped by militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. The YPG has denied involvement.
Turkey says 14 people have been held in connection with Wednesday's attack on the military convoy in Ankara.
Meanwhile, another convoy in south-east Turkey has been hit by a bomb, killing at least six troops.
Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What's going on?

Mourning Ankara's dead

Wednesday's bombing in Ankara targeted the convoy as it passed close to key government buildings. Twenty-eight people were killed and 61 injured.
Mr Davutoglu said 26 of the dead were soldiers. The funerals will be held later on Thursday.
Media captionTurkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu: "A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established"
Relatives of victims at the morgue in Ankara on 18 February 2016Image copyright EPA
Image caption Funerals of those killed in Ankara will take place on Thursday
Mr Davutoglu named the Ankara bomber as Salih Necar, a Syrian national and member of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
"A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established," he said. He went on to say the attack was carried out with logistical support from PKK militants inside Turkey.
The PKK, which has been fighting for Kurdish self-determination since 1984, is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.
Turkey has also designated the YPG a terrorist group, but its allies, including the United States, back the YPG in its fight against so-called Islamic State (IS).
Graphic: Kurdish groups, Turkey and the Islamic State
Mr Davutoglu said the bombing in Ankara proved the YPG is involved in terrorism, and said he expects co-operation from Turkey's allies in tackling them.
The Syrian Kurdish PYD party, to whom the YPG is affiliated, said it "completely refuted" the claims of its involvement.
Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the party, also denied claims the YPG was firing into Turkey. "They don't consider Turkey as an enemy," he told Reuters news agency.

Fresh attack on Turkish military

On Thursday morning, reports emerged of a similar attack on a military convoy in the mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey.
The army said six soldiers were killed and another was badly wounded after the convoy struck an improvised explosive device in the province of Diyarbakir. The army blamed the PKK for the attack.
Last month, at least six people died in Diyarbakir when a car bomb struck a police headquarters. Authorities blamed PKK fighters for the explosion.
Scene of attack in Diyarbakir, southern Turkey, on 18 February 2016Image copyright Reuters
Image caption A convoy was searching for mines when it was hit, the army said
Map

Turkish warplanes strike PKK in Iraq

Turkey has been targeting Kurdish militia groups in both Syria and Iraq for some time now.
But the military said it carried out targeted strikes overnight on around 70 PKK militants, some of them senior commanders, based in the Haftanin region of northern Iraq.
Tensions have steadily increased between Turkey and the PKK since a two-and-a-half year long ceasefire ended last July.
PKK defiant over long war with Turkey

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