Brussels14/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 13 March, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn expressed their “strong solidarity” and fullest sympathy with Turkey, its government and its people, after a new bomb attack in the centre of Ankara.
“The European Union will continue to stand by all those who suffer from such violence. We reiterate our firm commitment to further step up international cooperation to fight the global threat of terrorism”, Mogherini and Hahn said in their joint press release.
Upon arriving at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 14 March, Mogherini said she was “sure we will discuss” this attack “at the European Council on 17-18 March”.
Meanwhile, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said he was “devastated” by the news of this attack. “These ruthless terrorist attacks are an attack on our European values - on us all”, he said.
The attack, carried out using a booby-trapped car at a bus stop in the heart of Ankara, has reportedly claimed 36 lives and left 125 wounded. Although no one has claimed the attack, the Turkish authorities suspect the PKK. On 17 February, another attack using a booby-trapped car, against the military, left 29 dead in the Turkish capital (see EUROPE 11493). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)