A Kurdish militant group known as the Kurdish Freedom Falcons or TAK has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Ankara which claimed the lives of 37 people. The Kurdish Freedom Falcons said in a statement via a press release on the internet that the attack in the Turkish capital city was a "revenge" for Turkish military operations against Kurdish rebels in the southeast.
Gant Daily reported that a female suicide car bomber was behind the bombing in Ankara on Sunday. The interior ministry officials identified the suicide bomber as Seher Cagla Demir. Local investigators believe that Demir has received training from the YPG, Syrian-based Kurdish rebels. Kurdish Freedom Falcons confirmed that Demir headed a team of attackers, referring to her as "our comrade."
According to The Siver Times, the Kurdish Freedom Falcons, ranked on the list of terrorist organizations by the European Union, the US, and other NATO allies, is an armed wing of the Kurdish movement. TAK was established during the mid-2000's and the group had wished to mark its independence and difference of the PKK, although most of its members claim to follow the same leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who was imprisoned since 1999.
The group is known for several attacks in Western Turkey, including a bombing of a military bus in the outskirts of Istanbul in 2010 which killed four people. The group also claimed the mortar attack against the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport, which killed an employee last December.
Millions of refugees from Syria have moved into Turkey, draining its resources and straining its economy, says CNN. Turkey has been drawn into a long-running war with its neighbor and its leaders have pushed to join the EU while fending off criticism of cracking down on journalists and opponents.
Several towns have been under curfew with military operations to clear out what the government of Turkey calls terrorists, but critics argue that heavy-handed operations are collective punishment and that the security forces have been acting with impunity killing civilians.
