Ankara bombing: blaming Kurds suits Erdoğan's political ends

Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s prime minister, was keen to make a point. All the evidence suggested the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were responsible for Wednesday evening’s car bomb in Ankara that killed 28 people, he declared on the morning after the attack.

For Davutoğlu, this “certain” conclusion demonstrated the truth of what Turkey has been saying all along: that the YPG and its political arm in northern Syria, the Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD), are terrorists no different from Islamic Stateand the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK).

“A direct link between the attack and the YPG has been established,” Davutoğlu said. It had received logistical support from PKK militants inside Turkish territory, he added. But both the YPG and the PKK flatly deny responsibility. The PYD leader, Salim Muslim, said the group was not involved.

These denials, plus the speed, unusually detailed nature and alacrity of Davutoğlu’s announcement, will raise questions about the thoroughness of the investigation, the accuracy of its findings, and possible political motivations. On the face of it, the prime minister’s claim that Turkey’s security services have uncovered the identity, birthplace, personal history and political affiliation of the alleged bomber within hours of the attack looks suspicious. If they knew so much about the movements of the accused – Salih Necer, a 24-year-old Syrian national – why were they unable to stop him?

In the wake of the suicide bombings of a mainly Kurdish peace rally in Ankara last October that killed more than 100 people, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quickly accused the PKK – ethnic Kurdish militants from Turkey’s south-east – and Syrian Kurds of blowing up their own people. It later transpired Isis caused the blasts. But blaming the Kurds suited Erdoğan’s political ends.

A similar process may now be in train, except it has been accelerated. True or not, fingering the Syrian Kurds for Wednesday’s attack serves a number of official purposes. Curbs on media reporting in Turkey meanwhile make it harder to challenge the authorised version of events.