Turkey identifies Ankara bomber
March 15, 2016
Turkish authorities on Tuesday identified Seher Cagla Demir as the person responsible for an explosion that killed at least 37 people in Ankara the day before.
A statement released by the Interior Ministry said Demir, who was born in 1992 in eastern Turkey, had ties to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Ankara considers the group a terrorist organization.
According to authorities, Demir joined the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), another terrorist organization, in 2013, and then crossed over into Syria to train with YPG.
Breakdown in relations
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the media on Monday he was "almost certain" the PKK was behind it.
A ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK collapsed in July, and the predominantly Kurdish southeastern region of the country has been mired in conflict since.
In response to the bombing, Turkey began a series of air strikes in northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.
In October, a terrorist attack attributed to the "Islamic State" killed 100 people in Ankara.
blc/kms (AFP, dpa)