A general view of the entrance of the headquarters of Turkey's aviation company TUSAS, where five people were killed and 22 others wounded in an attack, near Kahramankazan, a town of Turkish capital Ankara, October 23, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)

The death toll from an attack targeting a Turkish aerospace and defense company has risen to five, while 22 others were injured. 

"A terrorist attack was carried out against the Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. (TUSA?) Ankara Kahramankazan facilities," Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on social media on Wednesday. 

At a regular press conference on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, "China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism. We express our condolences over the lives lost in the incident, and our sympathies to those injured. As a friend, China hopes to see security and stability upheld in Turkey."

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a BRICS conference in the Russian city of Kazan, condemned the attack and accepted Putin's condolences. NATO, the US and the EU also condemned the attack, according to Reuters.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of press time. But when asked by journalists for a response, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler suggested the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) could be behind it, CNN reported.

The PKK was founded in 1979, seeking to "establish an independent state in the Kurdistan region" at the junction of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria through armed struggle. Turkey has designated the organization as a terrorist group and has continued to severely suppress it for many years, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Choosing aerospace industry companies as attack targets is likely due to their strategic value, Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times.

"This incident will have a limited impact on Turkey's internal stability and the regional situation. However, attention should still be given to the security risks posed by unexpected incidents," Liu noted.

According to the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said late Wednesday that Turkish forces destroyed 32 terrorist targets in an air operation conducted in northern Iraq and Syria, and a significant number of terrorists were "neutralized."

Analysts believe that the operation was in retaliation for the attack on a Turkish Aerospace Industries factory on Wednesday.

The Turkish defense ministry said in a statement that the operation was conducted in accordance with the legitimate right to self-defense arising from Article 51 of the UN Charter, with the aim of "neutralizing" PKK/KCK and other terrorist elements to eliminate terror attacks against the public and security forces and to ensure border security.