On Thursday, the Kurdish militant group TAK (Kurdistan Freedom Falcons) has claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack that killed 37 people in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday.
Kurdish TAK militant group says it was behind Ankara bombing that killed 37: website https://t.co/erzq4ORL6T
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 17, 2016
“On the evening of March 13, a suicide attack was carried out in the streets of the capital of the fascist Turkish republic,” the group said in a statement on its website. “We claim this attack.”
#TAK statement taking responsibility for #Ankara bombing pic.twitter.com/ifD3ulx3iy
— Hassan Ridha (@sayed_ridha) March 17, 2016
“This action was carried out to avenge the 300 Kurds killed in Cizre as well as our civilians who were wounded,” the statement said.
TAK also claimed the bombing was aimed at security forces and was not intended to kill civilians.
“We would like to apologize for the civilian losses which had nothing to do with the dirty war being waged by the fascist Turkish republic.” the statement said.
Dozens of people injured in Sunday’s blast remain in hospitals.
TAK, a splinter group of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack that killed 29 people in the capital in February and the December 2015 mortar attack on an Istanbul airport.
The Turkish state does not distinguish between the two groups, insisting that the TAK is part of the PKK.
The U.S. government designated TAK a separate terrorist organization in 2008. The UK, the EU and others also classify the TAK as terrorists.
The U.N. has not designated the TAK as a terrorist organization.
(Image: Security officials stand at Sunday’s explosion site in Ankara. AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
