(Image: Getty Images)
Foreign Office issues Turkey travel warning following terrorist attack
by Liv Clarke · Manchester Evening NewsThe UK Foreign Office has issued a warning to British travellers following a terrorist attack in Turkey, killing four people. The attack took place at a state-ruin aerospace facility in Kahramankazan, around 40km from the capital Ankara on Wednesday.
UK tourists in the “immediate area” are urged to follow the guidance of local authorities and monitor media reports. In an update on its travel advice page for Turkey, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “There has been a terrorist attack on Turkish Aerospace Industries’ facilities in Kahramankazan, 40km northwest of central Ankara, with a number of deaths and casualties reported.
“The security response is ongoing. If you are in the immediate area follow the advice of the local authorities and monitor local media.”
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that assailants set off explosives and opened fire in an attack on the company TUSAS, killing four people and wounding several. Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said that at least two of the attackers died.
(Image: Getty Images)
The president condemned the attack as “heinous”. Speaking at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a meeting in Kazan, Russia, Mr Erdogan said: “We have four martyrs. We have 14 wounded. I condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish mercy on our martyrs.”
Mr Putin, hosting a summit of BRICS leaders, expressed his condolences over the attack. It is not yet known who was behind the attack, but security images showed a man in plain clothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle.
According to Turkish media, three assailants, including a woman, arrived at an entry to the complex in a taxi. The assailants, who were carrying assault weapons, then detonated an explosive device next to the taxi, causing panic and allowing them to enter the complex. Multiple gunshots were heard after Turkish security forces entered the site, the DHA news agency and other media reported. Helicopters were flying above the premises.
Selim Cirpanoglu, mayor of the district of Kahramankazan, told the Associated Press that the attack on the company on the outskirts of the capital Ankara had abated but could not provide more details. TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles civilian and military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other defence industry and space systems.
The UAVs have been instrumental in Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkey and across the border in Iraq. Vice president Cevdet Yilmaz said the target of the attack was Turkey’s “success in the defence industry”. “It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of defence industry,” he tweeted.