Five people were killed and 22 injured on Wednesday when two terrorists stormed the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in Ankara, armed with explosives and AK-47 rifles.
The two attackers arrived at the TAI premises in a hijacked taxi. They immediately began shooting at employees leaving their shift before one of them detonated an explosive at the gates while the other forced his way inside the building.
After a shoot-out with security forces, the two terrorists, a woman and a man, were eliminated on the scene.
While no terrorist group has yet to claim the attack, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said preliminary findings indicate the PKK may be behind the incident.
The five victims were laid to rest in Ankara later on Thursday.
The attack, which has sparked sorrow and outrage across the country, claimed the lives of Cengiz Coşkun, a quality control officer at the TAI, mechanical engineer Zahide Güçlü, TAI employee Hasan Hüseyin Canbaz, security guard Atakan Şahin Erdoğan and taxi driver Murat Arslan.
Güçlü was on her way to the entrance of the compound to receive flowers sent by her husband when the attack took place. It was reportedly her wedding anniversary.
The 37-year-old engineer was struck by back-to-back hardships in her recent years, including the death of her mother in 2020 and the cancer that caught her only child in 2021, media reports said.
Güçlü’s 6-year-old daughter had recently recovered and returned home after a two-year hospital treatment. She was known to be a philanthropist who often supported children with cancer.
Notably, Güçlü played key roles in the nationalization of the TAI, including the production of the Gökbey helicopter designed to suit Türkiye’s geographical and climate conditions and serve the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
The terrorists killed Arslan, father of three, and hid his body in the trunk of his taxi after getting into the vehicle at a taxi station.
“They shot him in the back,” Arslan’s grieving father, Mehmet Arslan, told reporters. “It’s as if we lost an arm. There is nothing to be done.”
Coşkun was also married and a father to a child. Originally hailing from central Sivas province, Coşkun had been living in Ankara for many years with his family.
Security guard Erdoğan’s killing too has struck sorrow in his household, which was adorned with Turkish flags following the news.
