At Least 17 Suspects Detained Over Ankara Bombing

Turkish security forces have detained at least 17 terrorist suspects over the deadly terrorist attack in Ankara earlier, local media reported Friday, citing the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, a car bomb exploded outside a military housing complex near the parliament building in the Turkish capital, killing 28 and injuring 61. On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the perpetrators of the attack were Kurds.

Following the attack, Ankara embarked on security operations in a number of provinces throughout the country.

According to the prosecutor's office, the case has almost been solved and there is concrete evidence linking the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to the suspects, as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.

The security situation in Turkey deteriorated in July 2015, after 33 Kurdish activists were killed in a suicide blast in the city of Suruc and two Turkish policemen were later murdered by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which led to Ankara commencing a military campaign against the group.

The Kurds, Turkey's largest ethnic minority, are striving to create their own independent state. The PKK was founded in the late 1970s to promote Kurdish self-determination and is considered to be a terrorist organization by the Turkish authorities.