UPDATE: Saha Expo organizers on Wednesday evening canceled portions of the remainder of the arms fair, which was due to run all week.
ISTANBUL — Turkish government and industry officials were rushed out of the country’s largest defense show here on Wednesday following an attack on a national aerospace company near the capital city of Ankara.
At least four people have been killed and 14 injured in a “terrorist attack” against state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI, or TUSAS) headquarters in Kahramankazan, near Ankara, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement.
The assault took place on the second day of the country’s largest defense fair, Saha Expo, organized here from Oct 22-26.
In the late afternoon of Oct. 23, a number of sirens were heard outside of the expo’s venue as responders headed towards the nearby highways. A number of Turkish government and industry officials were then rushed to cars waiting outside, although it was unclear which companies they represented.
TAI’s general manager, Mehmet Demiroglu, was among those who left Saha Expo early to return to Ankara, roughly 280 miles to the east, state news agency Anadolu reported.
Additional police cars were placed in front of the Turkish Airlines Flight Training Center located next to the exhibition hall.
It was unclear on Wednesday if the defense expo would continue the following day. While organizer representatives initially told Defense News that it was likely to run as planned, they canceled the remainder of the show on Wednesday evening.
Assailants set off explosives and opened fire in an attack Wednesday on the premises of the national aerospace company, killing four people and wounding several, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
At least two of the attackers died, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
“We have four martyrs. We have 14 wounded. I condemn this heinous terrorist attack and wish mercy on our martyrs,” Erdogan said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the sidelines of a BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia.
Putin offered him condolences over the attack.
Selim Cirpanoglu, mayor of the district of Kahramankazan, told The Associated Press that the attack on the company in the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, had abated but could not provide more details.
It was not clear who may be behind it. Kurdish militants, the Islamic State group and leftist extremists have carried out attacks in the country in the past.
Security camera images from the attack, aired on television, showed a man in plainclothes carrying a backpack and holding an assault rifle.
Turkish media said three assailants, including a woman, arrived at an entry to the complex inside a taxi. The assailants, who were carrying assault weapons, then detonated an explosive device next to the taxi, causing panic and allowing them to enter the complex.
Multiple gunshots were heard after Turkish security forces entered the site, the DHA news agency and other media reported. Helicopters were seen flying above the premises.
TUSAS designs, manufactures and assembles both civilian and military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense industry and space systems. The UAVs have been instrumental in Turkey gaining an upper hand in its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkey and across the border in Iraq.
Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said the target of the attack was Turkey’s “success in the defense industry.”
“It should be known that these attacks will not be able to deter the heroic employees of defense industry,” he wrote on X.
With material from the Associated Press.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
