An attack left four people dead and fourteen injured on Wednesday in front of the headquarters of Turkey’s defense industries, near Ankara, according to reports shared by the authorities.
According to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “the hate attack” did “four martyrs and 14 wounded”announced the head of state from Kazan, Russia, during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who expressed his condolences.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya also revised his initial assessment of “three martyrs”confirming the four killed and specifying that “three of the injured are in critical condition”.
The term « martyr » is generally used to announce the death of soldiers or victims of violent acts.
According to the private television channel stationed at the entrance to the site, about forty km from Ankara, the shots which continued to resonate after the explosion, which occurred around 4:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT), stopped shortly after 5:30 p.m. ( 2:30 p.m. GMT).
Another channel, Habertürk, reported“hostages”without further clarification or confirmation.
The Ministry of Justice announced the opening of an investigation.
The operation has not yet been claimed.

Turkish police officers secure part of a main road in Kahramankazan, about 40 kilometers north of Ankara, on October 23, 2024, near the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) building / Adem ALTAN / AFP
According to NTV, it was a suicide attack, a “group of terrorists” having burst into front of the entrance to the buildings before one of them was “explode”.
The Sabah newspaper published on its X account a photo taken from surveillance cameras at the entrance to the building showing a young man dressed entirely in black, carrying a backpack and apparently carrying an assault rifle, saying: “This is one of the terrorists who attacked #TUSAŞ”.
convictions
Television images showed large flames followed by white smoke in front of the entrance to the site, before having to give up direct broadcasts on the orders of RTürk, the organ located around forty km from the capital.
Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu “condemned the terrorist attack perpetrated against the facilities of Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSAŞ) in Ankara”.
“May God have mercy on our martyrs and may our wounded recover quickly” he added on X.
Opposition Leader Özgür Özel, Chairman of the CHP, also condemned “the terrorist attack”specifying, on X: “I condemn terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from”.
An important exhibition of defense and aerospace industries is being held this week in Istanbul, in the presence of the CEO of Defense Industries, which was attended in particular by the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriï Sybiga.

The new Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, speaks during a press conference after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, October 3, 2024 in kyiv / Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP
NATO Secretary General Mark Rütte, of which Turkey is a member, said “stand by our ally, Turkey”.
Likewise the European delegation in Ankara which says “very shocked and saddened” and, like the French ambassador, Isabelle Dumont, expresses her “solidarity with the Turkish authorities” and offers its condolences to the families of the victims.
Turkey’s defense sector, including the famous Bayraktar drones, represented nearly 80% of the country’s export revenues and $10.2 billion for the year 2023. Over the first eight months of 2024, defense industries’ export revenue reached $3.7 billion, up 9.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

In this photo taken and published by the website brics-russia2024.ru on October 23, 2024, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan arrive at Kazan airport to attend the BRICS summit / Ilya PITALEV / Photo host brics -russia2024.ru/AFP
President Recep Tayyp Erdogan is in Russia on Wednesday, where a summit of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and numerous foreign heads of state is taking place.
In January, an attack on a church in Istanbul, claimed by the Islamic State group, left one dead.
Previously, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in armed struggle against the government, carried out an attack in Ankara in front of a police station in October 2023, which left two dead (the attackers) and injured two police officers.