After Ankara attack, Turkey bombs PKK, buries dead

The first Ankara attack victims were being buried on Thursday, hours after Turkey struck PKK militants in Iraq after blaming them for the assault on a defence firm that killed five.

As the dust settled after Wednesday's deadly attack on the state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) that also left 22 injured, Turkey pointed the finger at Kurdish militants as "very likely" responsible.

Turkish investigators had identified one of the attackers as a "PKK terrorist" codenamed "Rojger" but were still working to identify his female accomplice, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.

Both appeared in CCTV images posted on X in which they are seen emerging from a taxi holding assault rifles and firing their weapons before entering the building.

The taxi driver, who was killed by the attackers, was being buried on Thursday at a funeral attended by parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus.

Istanbul's two main airports have stepped up security in the wake of the attack, the DHA news agency and private NTV channel reported.

Sabiha Gokcen airport, which is located on the Asian side of the city, issued a statement telling passengers to arrive "at least three hours" early to avoid delays due to increased security.

Overnight, the Turkish military struck dozens of Kurdish militant positions in Syria and northern Iraq, hitting "47 terrorist targets, 29 in Iraq and 18 in northern Syria", the defence ministry said, indicating the raids would continue.

Kurdish sources in northern Syria said the strikes had killed 12 civilians and wounded 25 others.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Russia attending the Brics summit of major emerging economy nations, was to return to Ankara later in the day, his office said.

In a speech to delegates, he thanked those who had shown their support, saying: "This cowardly attack has further strengthened Turkey's determination and resolve to eliminate terrorism."

The attack took place amid growing signs of a political thaw between Ankara and Kurdish militants..

Just hours before the attack, PKK leader Adbullah Ocalan — who has been jailed on a Turkish prison island in solitary confinement since 1999 — received his first family visit in years.

His nephew Omer Ocalan, who is a lawmaker for the main pro-Kurdish DEM party, confirmed the meeting.

"Our last face-to-face meeting with Abdullah Ocalan was on March 3, 2020," he wrote on X, saying the family met him again "years later on October 23, 2024".

The last contact they had with him was a brief phonecall in March 2021.

Writing on X, Ocalan said his uncle was "in good health" and that he had sent a message to the public about the ongoing "political developments", saying: "If the conditions allow, I have the necessary theoretical and practical power to shift this process from an arena of conflict and violence to one of law and politics."

According to Abdulkadir Selvi, a leading columnist writing in the Hurriyet daily which is close to the government, the meeting lasted two hours and "Ocalan said he was ready to lay down his arms".