Turkey steps up strikes on PKK in Iraq, Syria after Ankara attack

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey launched fresh air strikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Syria and Iraq overnight, killing 59 militants, in response to a gun attack that killed five people in Ankara, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

Two assailants - a man and a woman - carried out Wednesday's assault with automatic rifles and explosives on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara. Twenty-two people were also wounded.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, during which both militants were killed. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the male attacker was confirmed to be a PKK member, while the female assailant had not yet been identified.

Turkish forces struck 29 PKK targets in northern Iraq and 18 in northern Syria, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said. Later, his ministry said 59 militants, including two believed to be "high level", were "neutralised", a term usually used to mean killed.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Thursday that the Turkish strikes in northern and eastern Syria had killed 12 civilians, including two children, and wounded 25 people.

Spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG and including Arab fighters, the SDF has been a major partner for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. It holds a quarter of Syria including oil fields and areas where some 900 U.S. troops are deployed.

Turkey says the YPG is a terrorist organisation that is closely tied to the PKK. Turkey's defence ministry said every precaution had been taken to prevent harm to innocent civilians

"No member of the treacherous terrorist organisation will be able to escape the grasp of Turkish soldiers," Guler said in a memorial ceremony at a defence industry fair in Istanbul.

"It is not a coincidence that this site was targeted," he added, referring to TUSAS.

Turkey regularly targets the PKK in Iraq and Syria with fighter jets and drones and TUSAS is Turkey's largest aerospace manufacturer, producing drones, helicopters, training craft and developing the country's first indigenous fighter jet, KAAN.

Security was tightened at TUSAS headquarters on Thursday, with security forces searching vehicles and checking people's identities, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

The alert level was raised to "orange" at Turkish airports as part of increased security measures, an aviation sector source told Reuters.

EYES ON PKK LEADER

President Tayyip Erdogan, speaking alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin at a BRICS conference in the Russian city of Kazan, condemned the attack, as did NATO, the United States, and European Union, which all designate the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

"This cowardly attack has further strengthened Turkey's determination to eliminate terrorism," Erdogan said at the summit on Thursday.

Wednesday's attack came a day after a key ally of Erdogan said the PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan may be allowed to speak in Turkey's parliament, if he announces an end to the group's insurgency, in exchange for the possibility of being released.

Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli made the surprise suggestion following media speculation in recent weeks about fresh efforts to end the PKK insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

The PKK took up arms 40 years ago with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish state. It subsequently moderated its goals to seeking greater Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.

It was not immediately clear whether Wednesday's attack would affect Bahceli's offer or whether it was intended to derail any such move.

Ocalan's nephew said he visited the PKK leader on Wednesday in the island prison south of Istanbul where he has been held since his capture in 1999. It was the first such visit in around four years.

"If the conditions are right, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from a foundation of conflict and violence to legal and political ground," Omer Ocalan quoted his uncle on X as saying.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Ece Toksabay, Ceyda Caglayan, Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Gareth Jones)