The scene of the explosion is located in close proximity to Turkey’s parliament, the Presidency of the General Staff, and Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard commands.
“We are very close to that place and we’ve heard two explosions,” one of the employees at a nearby hotel told RT by phone. “I went to the rooftop of our hotel and saw smoke… I saw a big fire. There is a military building around there… this was about 1 kilometer from us.”
A Turkish military general staff official has confirmed to Reuters the explosion targeted a bus carrying military personnel.
Social media users in Ankara say they heard a loud noise all across the city, and posted photos of a huge plume of smoke rising over downtown Eskisehir Avenue.
Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said on his Twitter account that the explosion was the result of a “cowardly terrorist attack.”
A Turkish government spokesman has said that the attack was well planned. President Recep Erdogan has postponed his upcoming visit to Azerbaijan in light of the incident.