Photo doesn't show assailants behind Turkey attack in 'yellow body bags'

What is the claim?

Following a deadly attack on October 23 at the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries near the country's capital Ankara, multiple social media users shared a photo claiming it depicts the attackers placed in yellow body bags after being killed.

One user on X (formerly Twitter) shared this photo with the caption, “#BREAKING: The three terrorists who carried out the treacherous attack were put in a yellow bag (translated from Turkish using Google Translate)."

At the time of writing, this post had amassed over 3.4 million views and more than 27,000 likes. Archived versions of this and similar posts can be found here, here, here, here, and here.

Screenshot of the similar claims (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, our investigation found that the photo is old and was taken during a protest in December 2023 in Ankara.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search revealed that Turkish media outlets published the image in 2023. A report by the Turkey-based news outlet Medyascope, dated December 27, 2023, included the photo, indicating that a group threw yellow bags in front of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) headquarters in Ankara. 

The report stated that the group was affiliated with the Turkish Veterans and Martyrs Families Foundation (TÜGSAV) and that the incident occurred after the deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq.

Screenshot of a news report from 2023. (Source: Medyascope/Modified by Logically Facts)

Another Turkish outlet, Cumhuriyet, published a report on the same day featuring a similar photograph with the headline, “Tension in front of DEM Party! They left a yellow bag.” The report indicated that the group gathered in front of the DEM party headquarters, chanted slogans against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)—a banned Kurdish separatist group—and called on the government to respond to incidents involving Turkish military personnel.

The DEM Party is a pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey that seeks "a peaceful and honorable resolution of the Kurdish issue."

In December 2023, a confrontation between Turkish armed forces and the PKK in northern Iraq resulted in the deaths of at least 12 Turkish soldiers. The PKK has been engaged in an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s and is designated a terrorist organization by the Turkish government.

We also found other photos of the protest from Anadolu Agency, Independent Türkçe and other Turkish news outlets depicting protesters with yellow bags while holding protest banners. News reports indicate that police did not allow the protesters to enter the DEM headquarters, leading the group to throw yellow bags in front of the building.

Attack on Ankara aerospace firm

The recent attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), also known as TUSAS, resulted in the deaths of at least five people and left 22 others injured. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed in a post on X (archived here) that one of the two perpetrators was affiliated with the PKK, while the identity of the second, a woman, has yet to be determined.

After the attack, the Turkish government stated it struck Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria in apparent retaliation.

The verdict

The viral photo circulating online, which claims to show yellow bags containing the bodies of those behind the Ankara attack, was taken during a protest in front of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party headquarters in December 2023. It is unrelated to the recent attack in Ankara.