(CNN) -- Turkish officials say a suicide bomber
belonging to a radical leftist organization blew himself up just outside
the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on Friday.
The blast killed a Turkish security guard. A senior U.S. official said no Americans were wounded.
Istanbul police identified the bomber as Ecevit Shanli, a member of DHKP-C, a Marxist Leninist terror group.
Hasan Selim Ozertem, a
security expert at the International Strategic Research Organization in
Ankara, said the attack could be related to arrests of a number of
DHKP-C members two weeks ago.
Since the beginning of
January, 85 members of the group have been arrested, he said, adding
that Turkish police have been closely focusing on the group over the
past five years. The DHKP-C was established in the 1970s.
Ozertem said that one
plausible theory is the group is trying to send a message to Turkish
authorities by attacking the U.S. Embassy because the building is near
the Turkish parliament.
DHKP-C has a track record
as a "subcontractor" group for other militant outfits, but it is also
believed to have relationships with states in the region such as Syria
and Iran, Ozertem said. The group also has a relationship with the PKK,
the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been warring with the Turkish
government for some time.
Ozertem said that the
attack could be linked to negotiations between the PKK and Turkish
government, or that Syria or Iran could be involved considering the
recent deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey as a defense against
possible missiles from Syria. He said he is unaware of any direct link
between DHKP-C and al Qaeda.
At the chaotic scene at the embassy, there were conflicting accounts of how many people were wounded.
Ankara police and health officials said two were injured, while Ankara Gov. Aladdin Yuksel said one person was hurt.
Earlier Friday, U.S.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that a "terrorist
blast" happened at 1:13 p.m. at a checkpoint on the perimeter of the
embassy.
"We are working closely
with the Turkish national police to make a full assessment of the damage
and the casualties, and to begin an investigation," she said.
The FBI will investigate
the bombing along with local authorities, a U.S. law enforcement
official told CNN. The FBI has a legal attache office in Ankara, in the
U.S. Embassy, the FBI's website says.
Images from CNN sister
network CNN Turk showed a hole in what appeared to be a building that is
part of the outer gate of the embassy compound, which is in a very
well-protected area of Ankara near the Turkish parliament building.
The gated complex
includes blast doors, reinforced windows and a series of metal detectors
that visitors must navigate before reaching embassy offices.
The blast happened on
the same day that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is leaving her job.
Sen. John Kerry will fill that role amid widespread discussion at the
department over security at its global posts following last year's
attack on the U.S. post in Benghazi, Libya.
Republican Rep. Ed
Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a
statement saying that Friday's bombing is "yet another stark reminder of
the constant terrorist threat against U.S. facilities, personnel and
interests abroad."
"Coming after Benghazi,
it underscores the need for a comprehensive review of security at our
diplomatic posts," his statement said. "The committee stands ready to
assist the State Department in protecting our diplomats."
Vice President Joe
Biden, in Europe to discuss issues such as Syria's civil war, spoke to
reporters along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said she is
"very sad that there was an assault on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. ... I
want to send my condolences to everyone involved."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also condemned the attack and sent condolences.
Biden said he
appreciated the sympathy. "I don't have much detail to tell, but it was
characterized by our mission as a terrorist attack on our embassy in
Ankara," he said. "To the best of our knowledge, there were some
injured. ... We don't have the details yet."
Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the blast was an attack "against the peace and welfare of our country."
Turkey has seen numerous
acts of political violence in the past from groups such as leftist
anarchists, Kurdish separatists, Islamists and al Qaeda. Turkey has also
backed rebels in neighboring Syria, and some violence from that
conflict has spilled over the border.
The explosion occurred
as about 400 U.S. military personnel are moving Patriot missile defense
equipment to a Turkish base as part of an effort to defend the country
from possible attack from Syria. The first battery became operational
last Saturday in the city of Adana, NATO said, and more equipment
arrived Wednesday in the port city of Iskenderun.
The British Embassy in Ankara strongly urged citizens to avoid areas around the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. Embassy posted a
message on its website thanking "the Turkish government, the media, and
members of the public for their expressions of solidarity and outrage
over the incident."
While the U.S. Embassy
in Ankara has not seen this kind of incident in decades, in 2008 three
police officers died in a shootout with assailants outside the U.S.
Consulate in Istanbul.
Three attackers also died in the incident, which the U.S. ambassador at the time called "an obvious act of terrorism."
One of the attackers in that incident was believed to have trained with al Qaeda in Pakistan's Waziristan region.
Turkish police officers react after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara Friday, February 1, in this picture provided by Milliyet Daily Newspaper.
