National Security is Everyone's Business

May 18th, 2024 | 11:34 PM ET

Turkey blames Kurdish militants for Ankara bomb, vows response in Syria and Iraq

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share
0 Shares
Posted: February 18th, 2016

The Turkish Prime Minister has accused Kurdish militia groups of carrying out the bombing that killed 28 people in Ankara yesterday. According to Reuters, the Turkish government has announced that it will continue shelling and bombing Kurdish forces in the region in retaliation for the bombing. Both YPG and PKK, two prominent Kurdish groups, have denied any involvement in the bombings, and are accusing the Turkish government of using the attack as a ruse to justify its assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria. Bulent Aras, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, told The Cipher Brief that “ the situation with the Kurds in Syria complicated Turkey’s own Kurdish problem at home,” and the recent bombings appear to have enhanced the antagonistic elements of that relationship. The Prime Minister also alleged that Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria may have been involved in the bombing, and warned Russia against supporting the Kurds as a means of striking at Turkey indirectly. 

 

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+

Categorized as:Europe Middle East ReportingTagged with:

Related Articles

Search

Close