Terror attacks in Turkey

A suicide car bomber targeted a busy commercial hub in Turkey’s capital city, Ankara, on March 13, killing 37 people.

Turkish security authorities blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist political group, for the attack and responded with air and military strikes against Kurdish positions in the southeast of Turkey and in Syria. The PKK has denied any involvement.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a militant Kurdish separatist group that was expelled from the PKK, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The TAK also claimed responsibility for a Feb. 17 suicide bombing of a military convoy in Ankara that killed 28 people. The TAK said that both bombings were in response to Turkey’s attacks on Kurds in Turkey and Syria.

On March 31 in a predominately Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey, a bomb in the city of Diyarbakır killed seven police officers. No group had claimed responsibility for the bomb as of press time.

The US Department of State warns travelers of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey and advises against traveling in southeastern Turkey.