clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Arab world denounces Ankara bombing

February 18, 2016 at 1:39 pm

Arab countries reacted with outrage Thursday to a deadly car bombing that killed at least 28 people and injured scores in the heart of the Turkish capital.

A report from Ankara’s governor has suggested that three military-owned vehicles and a private vehicle were targeted by a suicide bomber close to Turkish General Staff and parliament buildings.

“We condemn in the strongest words this terrorist bombing in the Turkish capital Ankara,” a spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement Thursday.

The spokesman offered condolences to the Turkish people and families of the victims and called on the international community to rally efforts to fight terrorism.

The Jordanian government also condemned the attack and called for boosting tools to combat extremism and violence.

Similar condemnations came in from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Meanwhile, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi offered his condolences to the Turkish government and reiterated his country’s support for the country.

Elsewhere, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood denounced the attack and offered condolences to the Turkish government and people.

“We reject all forms of terrorism whether against individuals, groups or states,” Abdel-Mawgod al-Darderi, a former Brotherhood lawmaker, told Anadolu Agency.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, meanwhile, termed the bombing a “heinous act that runs against all human values”.

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki also condemned the attack.

“These terrorist bombings were targeting Turkey for its support for the Arab Spring revolutions… and for its successes in many fields,” he wrote on Twitter.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a press briefing Thursday that the attack was carried out jointly by a member of YPG, the armed wing of Syria’s PYD and PKK terrorists.

“The assailants have all been identified. It is Syrian national Saleh Najar who was born in the northern Syrian city Amuda in 1992. Nine others have been detained,” he said.