U.S. Embassy in Ankara suicide bomber named

The suicide bomber who killed one person and wounded another today in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara is a member of an outlawed leftist group, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, Hurriyet reported.

Erdogan's statement confirmed reports claiming the attacker was a 30-year-old member of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C). The suspect, identified as Ecevit Şanlı, has previously spent time in prison, according to reports.

Erdoğan also played down claims that the attack might be related to Turkey's position on the Syria crisis. "I don't reach to this conclusion. You know that the DHKP/C made some other attempts lately, but Turkey is taking steps against terrorism as well," said Erdoğan, highlighting the recent police raids against lawyers and alleged members of the leftist group.

The prime minister also said he had called U.S. Ambassador Francis Riccardone to express his condolences, and wished a speedy recovery to the journalist Didem Tuncay, who was heavily injured in the attack.

Suspected suicide bomber Ecevit Sanlı spent time in prison between 1997 and 2000 for attacking an Istanbul military guest house, Harbiye Orduevi, with a flame thrower.

He participated in hunger strikes while being held in Ümraniye Prison in 2000, a time when massive hunger strikes were initiated in Turkish prisons. Sanlı, who suffered from Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome, was released on probation in 2002.

Meanwhile, the security guard who also died in the attack has been identified as Mustafa Akarsu, 36, Interior Minister Muammer Güler said in a statement.

The attack destroyed the entrance to the embassy building, he added, adding that the force of the explosion left body parts strewn around the scene.