Terrorist attack in Turkey: One of the perpetrators is a PKK member – Who were the five victims

New information regarding the actions of the man and woman who carried out the terrorist attack on Wednesday afternoon at the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) facilities has been revealed by Turkish media.

Although the Erdoğan government has not officially named the PKK as the organization behind the attack, the Kurdish group has already been identified by two ministers.

HaberTurk reported that the male perpetrator, born in 1992 in the Beytüşşebap region, had been a PKK member since 2016, though his name remains unknown.

More Footage showing the Terrorists who carried out today’s Bombing and Shooting Attack on the Headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara, Turkey. pic.twitter.com/aGwXsdf1XG

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 23, 2024

According to Hurriyet, the two attackers conducted reconnaissance of the area before their attack, even publishing a photo that allegedly shows the couple holding hands while seemingly recording the security measures and spaces of TUSAŞ.

According to Turkish media accounts, the man was shot dead by security personnel at the facilities, while the woman detonated herself with a grenade when she realized she could not avoid capture.

The Five Victims

Turkish media have also released the names and photographs of the victims of the terrorist attack. They are:

Zahide Güçlü, mechanical engineer at TUSAŞ
Cengiz Coşkun, quality control manager at TUSAŞ
Hüseyin Canmaz, employee at TUSAŞ
Atakan Şahin Erdoğan, security staff
Murat Arslan, the taxi driver murdered by the terrorists to take the vehicle they used to reach TUSAŞ.

Specifically, regarding Zahide Güçlü, a mother of two, it became known that she was killed at the moment she arrived at the TUSAŞ gate to pick up the flowers her husband had sent her to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

The Theft of the Taxi

Regarding the theft of the taxi used by the terrorists to reach the Aerospace Industry facilities, this occurred approximately 45 minutes before the attack. Turkish media describe how they entered Arslan’s taxi and told him, “We want to go to the center of Ankara.”

At one point, they asked him to stop so one of them could supposedly smoke, and then they shot him. They subsequently placed the lifeless body of the taxi driver in the trunk and headed to the TUSAŞ facilities. “They shot him in the back,” said Arslan’s father, who was the father of three children.

Turkey’s Initial Response

The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced after midnight that “thirty-two targets,” positions of the PKK and its allies, were bombed in northern Iraq and Syria, just hours after the attack in Ankara, which claimed five lives and was attributed to the Kurdish separatist armed movement by Turkish authorities. “As allowed by our right to legitimate defense as outlined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, an air operation was conducted against terrorist targets in northern Iraq and Syria… and a total of 32 targets belonging to the terrorists were successfully destroyed,” the ministry stated in its press release, clarifying that “air operations continue.”

Turkey and Turkish-Allied Forces in Syria are launching Strikes tonight against Kurdish Towns and PKK Positions in Northern Syria, as Retaliation for today’s Terrorist Attack on the Capital of Ankara; with 32 Strikes having been carried out so far by the Turkish Air Force. pic.twitter.com/Uq4lUNkeBz

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 23, 2024