A powerful explosion targeted the parliament building in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on the morning of Sunday, hours before its opening for its new session, which was to be inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.
Reports indicate that, in addition to the explosion, gunshots were heard in the Parliament district, home to several government ministries, triggering an immediate response by law enforcement and a considerable deployment of police vehicles and ambulances.
Police intervention helped capture and neutralize the second attacker after the first suicide bomber detonated himself. This is the first terrorist attack rocking Turkey since the year 2016, which saw several attacks masterminded mostly by blacklisted separatist group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya posted on his X account (formerly Twitter) that the two terrorist came aboard a light commercial vehicle to the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at 9.30 a.m. One of them blew himself up and the other was caught. Two policemen were slightly wounded in the shooting.
The injuries of police officers Alim Reis Demirel and Erkan Karataş are not life-threatening, he said, wishing them speedy recovery.
He vowed that Turkey will continue its fight against “terrorism, their collaborations, poison merchants, gangs and organized criminal organizations.”
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced the opening of a probe into the terror act.
Hours after the attack, Erdogan was giving a keynote speech at the parliament.