Who is TAK and why did it attack Ankara?
This story seeks to shed light on the secretive Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Feb. 17 bombing in Ankara.
It was July 6, 2005. The location was Kusadasi, Turkey, a prominent tourism center on the Aegean coast full of locals and foreigners. A loud explosion wrecked the serenity of the summer holiday, leaving five dead, 14 wounded and the unanswered question of who did it.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was suspected, but it denounced the attack. A short time later the bombing was claimed by an organization few had heard of before: the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or Teyrenbazen Azadiya Kurdistan (TAK).
Eleven years later, on Feb. 17, Ankara was shaken by a massive blast. A suicide bomber had set off an explosives-laden vehicle near military shuttle buses in a sensitive area, killing 29 people and wounding many others. The question was the same. Who did it?
This time there were several suspects. Although the style of the bombing pointed to the Islamic State (IS), Turkish officials accused the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), a PKK affiliate. But three days later, the TAK surprised everyone by claiming responsibility, posting on its website a photo of Abdulbaki Somer, one of its militants who had carried out the bombing. Although the statement did not convince Turkish officials, DNA tests confirmed the TAK’s claim.
