Explosion in Ankara kills at least 18, wounds 45 others

He said seven prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the attack, which he described as “well-planned”.

Doctors Without Borders said on Thursday that it took the wrenching decision not to formally inform Syria’s government or its Russian allies about the location of some medical facilities such as the one hit by a deadly… He also blamed the government of President Bashar Assad for allegedly supporting the Syrian Kurdish militia.

Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday that Turkey’s Kurdish rebels collaborated with the Syrian man to carry out the attack.

The Turkish military has been shelling PYD positions in northern Syria for four consecutive days in response to artillery fire from PYD forces based around Azaz in northern Aleppo province.

Authorities said that at least 28 people had been killed, and Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said 61 people were being treated in hospitals across the capital.

“There’s definitely many reasons why Turkish reaction is going to be fierce” if this was an attack, he said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to reporters Thursday during a visit to the chief of military staff’s office, said the attack would show the global community the strong links that exist between Turkish rebel group the PKK, and the Syrian Kurdish militia groups.

Dogan news agency says Wednesday’s explosion occurred near military lodgings.

Erdogan insisted the evidence pointed to the Syrian Kurdish group.

The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence although now more for greater autonomy and rights for the country’s largest ethnic minority.

Reports suggest that a auto bomb was detonated.

Turkey is strongly opposed to the creation of a united Kurdish region along its border with Syria, and has warned that it is willing to intervene to halt the project.

Turkey’s air force has been striking PKK positions in northern Iraq since a fragile two-and-a-half year-old peace process with the group collapsed in July, reigniting a fierce three-decade old conflict. “Panic erupted, people screamed and we started running for our lives”, Cem Kuncu, an Ankara resident, said by phone after taking refuge in a nearby cafe with dozens of other people.