Several Dead, Wounded in Attack Near Turkey’s Ankara
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey’s interior minister said a number of people have been dead and wounded after an attack on the premises of the Turkish aerospace and defense company TUSAS.
Ali Yerlikaya did not provide further details on the attack on Turkish Aerospace Industries, located on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara.
“A terrorist attack was carried out against the Turkish Aerospace Industries Ankara Kahramankazan facilities,” he wrote in a social media post.
Footage from the scene broadcast by local media initially showed huge clouds of smoke and a large fire raging at the site in Kahramankazan, a small town some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Ankara. Media have reported a loud explosion at the site and showed footage of an exchange of gunfire there, Al Jazeera reported.
There was no immediate claim for the attack.
Emergency services were dispatched to the site, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported.
TUSAS is one of Turkey’s most important defense and aviation companies. It produces KAAN, the country’s first national combat aircraft, among other projects.
The blast occurred as a major trade fair for the defense and aerospace industries was taking place in Istanbul which was visited this week by Ukraine’s top diplomat.
Turkey’s defense sector, which is widely known for its Bayraktar drones, accounts for nearly 80 percent of the nation’s export revenues with revenues expected to top 10.2 billion dollars in 2023.