Türkiye launched fresh airstrikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Syria and Iraq overnight, killing 59 militants, in response to a gun attack that killed five people in Ankara, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
Two assailants - a man and a woman - carried out Wednesday's assault with automatic rifles and explosives on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara. Twenty-two people were also wounded.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, during which both militants were killed. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the male attacker was confirmed to be a PKK member, while the female assailant had not yet been identified, according to Reuters.
Turkish forces struck 29 PKK targets in northern Iraq and 18 in northern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said. Later, his ministry said 59 militants, including two believed to be "high level", were "neutralized", a term usually used to mean killed.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Thursday that the Turkish strikes in northern and eastern Syria had killed 12 civilians, including two children, and wounded 25 people.
Spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG and including Arab fighters, the SDF has been a major partner for the US-led coalition against ISIS. It holds a quarter of Syria including oil fields and areas where some 900 US troops are deployed.
Türkiye says the YPG is a terrorist organization that is closely tied to the PKK. Türkiye's defense ministry said every precaution had been taken to prevent harm to innocent civilians
"No member of the treacherous terrorist organization will be able to escape the grasp of Turkish soldiers," Guler said in a memorial ceremony at a defense industry fair in Istanbul.
"It is not a coincidence that this site was targeted," he added, referring to TUSAS.
Türkiye regularly targets the PKK in Iraq and Syria with fighter jets and drones and TUSAS is Türkiye's largest aerospace manufacturer, producing drones, helicopters, training craft and developing the country's first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN.
Security was tightened at TUSAS headquarters on Thursday, with security forces searching vehicles and checking people's identities, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
The alert level was raised to "orange" at Turkish airports as part of increased security measures, an aviation sector source told Reuters.
