Turkey hits terrorist targets following Ankara attack

The Turkish military destroyed roughly 32 terrorist targets in Iraq and Syria affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK, the state-run news outlet Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday. Early Thursday morning, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya identified a man and woman who attacked a Turkish manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Ankara as members of the PKK. Turkish authorities killed both terrorists at the scene, but not before killing 5 people and wounding more than a dozen others, according to the Turkish news outlet Daily Sabah.  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after the attack vowed to continue fighting any terrorist threats.

Who were the terrorists? The man’s name was Ali Örek, but he went by the codename Rojger, Yerlikaya said. The woman’s name was Mine Sevjin Alçiçek, Yerlikaya added.

What is the PKK group and why did they attack the plant? The Turkish government describes the PKK as a terrorist organization based on Marxist-Leninist ideas and opposition to integrating the Kurdish people into Turkish society. The group has historically targeted police, military, and economic entities, according to Turkey. The group has killed more than 40,000 people with its operations, the government added. The plant the two militants attacked helped produce aerospace equipment—including drones, helicopters, and other vehicles for the Turkish government. The United States has designated the PKK as a terrorist organization since 1997.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how the PKK’s use of Sweden and Finland as a base of operations for planning attacks on Turkish targets nearly prevented the two countries from entering NATO.