The Wall Street Journal quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Aaron Stein on the group responsible for the recent bombing in Ankara and whether they have any connection to the PKK:
Available information point to an Islamic State-linked Turkish group from Adiyaman, which officials have been blamed for two deadly bombings since June, analysts said. Like the Ankara assault, those attacks targeted Kurds and leftist organizations, both of which strongly support PKK’s Syrian affiliate in its fight against Islamist jihadists.
“Open-source evidence points to absolutely no link between the Adiyaman cell and the PKK. In fact they are enemies,” said Aaron Stein, a nonresident fellow focusing on security matters at Atlantic Council, a think tank. “The government’s efforts to try and draw a link to the PKK is for domestic political consumption and tied to a political strategy designed to lessen the appeal of the HDP.”