ANKARA (Reuters) - Five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack at the Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) headquarters on Wednesday, the government said, and witnesses said they heard gunfire and a loud explosion at the site near Ankara.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was holding talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin at the time, confirmed the toll, and condemned what he said was a “heinous terrorist attack”.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that two attackers were killed in what he called a terrorist attack, adding three of the injured were in critical condition. TV broadcasters earlier showed footage of armed assailants entering the TUSAS building.
“Two terrorists were neutralised in the terror attack on the TUSAS Ankara Kahramankazan site. Sadly, we have 3 martyrs and 14 wounded in the attack,” Yerlikaya said, referring to the Aerospace Industries.
The cause and perpetrators of the blast and subsequent gunfire remained unclear. No group had claimed responsibility. Prosecutors have launched an investigation, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Some media reports claimed a suicide attack had occurred and that there were hostages inside the building, though officials have not confirmed this.
Witnesses told Reuters that employees inside the building were taken by authorities to shelters and no one was permitted to leave for a few hours. They said the blasts they heard may have taken place at different exits as employees were leaving work for the day.
Broadcasters showed images of a damaged gate and footage of an exchange of gunfire in a parking lot, as well as attackers carrying assault rifles and backpacks as they entered the building. Ambulances and helicopters later arrived.
Local media broadcast footage showing clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town some 40 kilometres north of Ankara.
The incident happened as Erdogan was meeting Putin at a summit in Kazan, with the Russian leader expressing his condolences over the attack.
Media outlets which had been showing live footage from the scene were forced to halt their broadcasts after Turkiye’s media watchdog ordered a blackout of images from the site.
TUSAS is Turkiye’s largest aerospace manufacturer, currently producing training craft, combat and civilian helicopters, as well as developing the country’s first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN.
Owned by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the government, it employs more than 10,000 people.
The attack drew condemnation from Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu as well as opposition leader Ozgur Ozel, who heads the CHP.
“I condemn the terrorist attack against TAI facilities in Kahramankazan … I condemn terrorism, no matter who or where it comes from,” Ozel wrote on X.