a loud explosion rang out near the Parliament in Ankara, the Minister of the Interior denounces a “terrorist attack”

A strong explosion rang out on Sunday, October 1 in the morning, in Ankara, Turkey, near the Parliament. Exchanges of gunfire were also heard in the neighborhood, which is home to many ministries. Police vehicles and ambulances were deployed in the area, private television channel NTV reported. The Minister of the Interior denounced a “terrorist attack”. The attack has, at this stage, not been claimed.

“Around 9:30 a.m., two terrorists arrived with a light utility vehicle, in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of the Interior, and carried out a bomb attack,” detailed Ali Yerlikaya on Twitter. He adds that “one of the terrorists blew himself up, the other was neutralized.” Still according to the minister, two police officers were slightly injured.

Opening of an investigation by the prosecution

The Ankara General Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation and imposed a ban on access to the area of ​​the attack. This attack comes as Parliament is due to open its new working session during the day and the head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was due to speak there, again according to Turkish media. During this parliamentary year, Parliament must validate Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance.

Ankara has been the scene of numerous and violent attacks in recent years. In March 2016, a car bomb in the central district of Kilizay killed 38 people. The attack was attributed to TAK, a small radical group close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In October 2015, an attack in front of Ankara central station attributed to the Islamic State (IS) left 109 dead. The last attack recorded on Turkish territory on November 13, 2022, in a shopping street in Istanbul, left six people dead. It had not been claimed, but had been attributed to the PKK by the authorities.