An attack shook the center of the Turkish capital this SundayAnkara, a few hours before the opening of the new parliamentary session that must validate the entry of Sweden to NATO.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoganplans to speak before the deputies during this session that will open at 2:00 p.m. (11:00 GMT), according to the presidency’s website, which announced his presence.
Parliament also maintains its program “unchanged”his spokesperson told AFP.
The Ministry of the Interior indicated that two police officers were injured in the attack carried out by “two terrorists”, one of whom “exploded himself” and the other “was neutralized.”
The lives of the agents are not in danger, he added.
The attack, which was not claimed, is in an area that houses numerous ministries and the Turkish parliament.
“Two terrorists arrived in a vehicle around 09:30 (0630 GMT) in front of the entrance door of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of the Interior and carried out a bomb attack,” explained the Minister of the Interior, Ali Yerlikaya.
The explosion was heard several kilometers away.
Video recorded by a security camera shows a gray vehicle slowly parking in front of police headquarters. One of the attackers gets out of the car and advances with a gun in his hand before immolating himself in front of the police station on duty.
A second man exits the vehicle but disappears from the images, engulfed by the smoke and dust raised by the explosion.
Ankara police announced that they were carrying out “controlled explosions” of “suspicious packages” for fear of new attacks, and asked residents to remain calm.
Sweden’s entry into NATO
The private television network NTV reported shootings in the area, which was completely cordoned off and where numerous police vehicles and ambulances were deployed.
The Ankara prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation and prohibited access to the area.
He also asked all local media outlets, particularly television stations, to immediately stop broadcasting images from the scene of the attack, which they did immediately.
The Turkish parliament must validate Sweden’s entry into NATO in this parliamentary session.
Hungary and Turkey lifted their vetoes against Sweden’s entry into the military alliance in July, but have been slow to ratify their accession.
For months, Erdogan has been pressuring Sweden to take measures against the profanations of the Koran, which have strained relations between the two countries.
Finland became the 31st member country of NATO in April, after three decades of military non-alignment and in the middle of the Ukraine war.
The European Union “strongly condemned” the attack.
The Turkish capital, Ankara, has been the scene of numerous violent attacks, especially during the years 2015 and 2016, many claimed by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or the Islamic State group.
The PKK, which has been fighting against the Turkish state since 1984, is included on the blacklist of terrorist groups by Ankara and its Western allies.
Kurdish militants affiliated with the PKK control most of northeastern Syria.
In October 2015, an attack outside an Ankara station claimed by the Islamic State killed 109 people.
The most recent attack in Turkey occurred on a shopping street in Istanbul in November 2022, where six people were killed and 81 injured.
AFP
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