The State Department has confirmed that its embassy in Ankara, Turkey has been attacked by a suicide bomber at about 1:15 pm local time. One Turkish guard was killed and several others were wounded.
“A suicide bombing on the perimeter of an embassy is by definition an act of terror,” said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary. “It is a terrorist attack.”
“We can confirm a terrorist blast at a check point on the perimeter of our embassy compound in Ankara,” Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. “We are working closely with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage and the casualties, and to begin an investigation.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, a far-left group which is anti-American and anti-NATO. Some have suggested this attack was caused by animosity towards Turkey for supporting the rebel army in Syria.
“We are talking about a highly marginal but dedicated urban terror group that has a large Arab Alawite membership, and tied to the Syrian intelligence with strong historical links since 1980s,” said Ali Nihat Ozcan, a senior fellow at the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation.
