TRANSCRIPT
Türkiye says it's carried out over 20 air strikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, hours after a suicide bombing at the interior ministry in the capital, Ankara. The interior ministry says militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party known as the PKK have been "neutralised".
The P-K-K, which is regarded by Türkiye and a number of other nations, including Australia, as a terrorist organisation, says the attack on the interior ministry was carried out by members of an affiliated group.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the bomb attack has ended in failure.
"As a result of the timely intervention of our security forces this morning, the action in which two murderers were neutralised is the last stand of terrorism. The scoundrels who targeted the peace and security of the citizens could not achieve their goals. They will never reach it."
The two attackers detonated a bomb in front of Turkish government buildings in Ankara in an assault that left both of them dead and two police officers wounded, in what authorities called the capital's first terrorist attack in years.
The Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya says the blast killed one of the terrorists and authorities "neutralised", or killed, the other. He says the incident has rattled a central district that is home to ministerial buildings and nearby parliament.
"As soon as they got out of the vehicle, they were met with resistance with firearms. During this time, one of the terrorists, who had a suicide bomb contraption, blew himself up. The other was shot in the head and neutralised before he found a chance to blow himself up."
Mr Yerlikaya says he plans to visit the two police officers who were at the scene of the blast and who he says remain in stable condition.
"I am going to go and visit them (the injured police officers). I have been in constant contact with the chief of medicine and the rector. Whether it is (police officers) Erkan or Alim Reis, thank God, they are still being treated and they are not in critical condition."
The attack occurred hours before parliament was set to re-open after its three-month summer recess with an address by President Erdogan.
In his opening statement, Mr Erdogan says his country is determined to combat all terrorist threats.
"We will continue our struggle with determination until the last terrorist is eliminated domestically and abroad. We will not allow the terrorist organisation to direct politics and prevent our country's blessed march. The attack this morning where two villains were neutralised as a result of the timely intervention of our security units is the final flutters of terrorism. The vile people who took aim at the peace and security of our citizens did not reach their goal and they never will."
The Turkish president has also taken aim at the European Union.
He says his government has no expectations from the E-U after waiting for 60 years to be granted official membership.
“As Türkiye, we have no expectations from the European Union, at whose door we have been kept waiting for 60 years. If they reverse their injustices, especially the visa imposition, which they use as a veiled sanction against us, they will correct their own mistakes. If they don't, they completely lose the right to expect anything from us, politically, socially, economically and militarily.”
Mr Erdogan has also reiterated his government's aim to create a 30-kilometre safe zone along its border with Syria to secure his country's southern border from attacks.
“Our strategy to protect our entire southern borders with a security strip of at least 30 kilometres in depth and to keep activities beyond that under absolute control remains intact. The new steps we will take are just a matter of preparation, time, and environment. That's why I want you to always remember that we may come unexpectedly one night.”
Mr Erdogan has refused to comment on the process of Sweden's integration into NATO, an issue which is meant to be voted on during the current term of the Turkish parliament.
He has said his government is not willing to accept any new terms imposed by the EU regarding Türkiye's induction to the body.
