On 1 February 2013, a suicide bomber attacked the United States embassy in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, killing a security guard and wounding three others. The bombing was subsequently denounced as an

act of terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

by both Turkey and the United States.

Attack

Secretary Kerry Honors Embassy Guard Akarsu

At approximately 13:15 EET (11:15 UTC) on 1 February 2013, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives— of

trinitrotoluene Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

(TNT) and a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

—at a side entrance to the United States embassy in the Kavaklıdere area of Ankara, killing a Turkish security guard and wounding three others. The explosion also seriously wounded journalist Didem Tuncay, who was rushed to hospital shortly after the attack had occurred. After visiting Tuncay in hospital,

Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. Francis Joseph Ricciardone Jr. (born 1952) is a former President of the American University in Cairo. Ambassador Ricciardone was the United States ambassador to Turkey between 2011 and 2014. Previously he was Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embas ...

, the United States ambassador to Turkey, described her as "one of the best" and added that she was due to have tea with him at the embassy. Ricciardone also paid tribute to Mustafa Akarsu, identified as the security guard who was killed in the bombing, saying that he was "a hero who adlost his life to protect the embassy staff".

Perpetrator

The

Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front ( tr, Devrimci Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi or DHKP-C) is a far-left Marxist–Leninist Communist party in Turkey. It was founded in 1978 as Revolutionary Left (Turkish: or ), and has been inv ...

, a

Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...

party designated as a terrorist organization by the

Turkish government The Government of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükûmeti) is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party ...

and the United States government, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement published on its website on 2 February. It also cited Turkish support for the opposition in the Syrian civil war as a reason for the attack. Turkish officials reported that the bomber was Ecevit Şanlı, a 30-year-old member of the group. The group also confirmed in its statement that the attack was perpetrated by Şanlı and that he sacrificed himself. Şanlı was imprisoned from 1997 to 2000 for his involvement in an attack against a military guest house in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

with a

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World ...

. Due to their alleged roles in the bombing, three more people were also arrested in Istanbul and Ankara.

References

External links

Embassy of the United States, Ankara
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States embassy bombing, Ankara 2013 in the United States Explosions in 2013

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2013 murders in Turkey Attacks on diplomatic missions in Turkey Attacks on diplomatic missions of the United States February 2013 crimes in Europe February 2013 events in Turkey

Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front

Terrorist incidents in Turkey in 2013 Turkey–United States relations Building bombings in Turkey DHKP/C attacks Presidency of Barack Obama Anti-Americanism Attacks in Turkey in 2013

Attack

Perpetrator

See also

References

External links