Turkey Accuses Kurdish Syrian Militant of Carrying Out Ankara Attack

He also said nine people had been detained following the attack.

Turkish artillery fire from the border near Kilis town toward northern Syria, in Kilis, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016.

On Thursday, the Turkish government claimed PKK and its offshoot in Syria, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing the YPG, were behind the attacks.

The leader of the main Syrian Kurdish group, Salih Muslim, has denied his group was behind the bombing, and he warned Turkey against taking ground action in Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Friday that America declare the Kurdish group a terrorist organization.

“We are not responsible for who will die in the attacks” in tourist areas, they said in the Friday statement. The blast was the second deadly bombing in Ankara in four months.

Turkey’s foreign minister accused the United States on Friday of making conflicting statements about the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, in a sign of deepening divisions between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies over policy in Syria.

Ankara appears increasingly uneasy over the group’s recent gains across its border and has continued to shell the militia despite worldwide calls for it to stop.

The YPG and PYD deny accusations from Ankara that they are branches of the PKK and have rejected having any involvement in the attack. Turkey and the United States consider the PKK a terrorist organization while only Turkey labels the PYD party in Syria a terrorist group.

Azzaz is now held by Turkish-backed rebel factions and is surrounded by both SDF forces and Islamic State group fighters.

Hollande told France Inter the strikes were effective and results could now be seen.

Six Turkish security force members were also killed on Thursday, as a bomb detonated by remote control hit a military convoy in southeast Turkey, according to Reuters.

The TAK has said that it severed links with the PKK. The claim couldn’t be verified.

At least 102 people were killed in a bombing in Ankara on October 10 past year that was carried out under orders from Islamic State in Syria, according to the prosecutor’s office at the time.

They vowed strong retaliation against the perpetrators, threatening to further complicate the Syria conflict. If he does not respond strongly to the Ankara attack, Mr. Erdogan could put the future of his government at risk. More than 100 people were killed in twin suicide bombings by Isil-linked terrorists.