Turkey

Turkey says it has carried out air strikes in northern Iraq. They were aimed at the Kurdish rebel army PKK, and 20 targets were destroyed. According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, “a large number of terrorists” have been killed in the attacks, dpa reported. It comes after a bomb attack earlier Sunday on an interior ministry building in the capital Ankara. Turkey’s interior ministry said on Sunday evening, according to Turkish state media, that one of the attackers was from the PKK. Air strikes in northern Iraq targeted PKK bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina and Qandil, it said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech at the opening of parliament on Sunday, condemned the attack. “Those who threaten the peace and security of their citizens have not achieved their goals. They never will,” he said.
     Earlier Sunday, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the bomb blast. The organisation is on the EU terrorist list. “A sacrificial act was carried out against the Turkish Interior Ministry by a team of our Immortal Brigade,” the PKK told the ANF news agency, which is close to the Kurdish movement. Two attackers were killed in the action. /ritzau/Reuters