[6] The ambush occurred as Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was received in Washington, D.C., by U.S. President Barack Obama and occurred the day before a court was due to consider outlawing Turkey's Democratic Society Party (DTP), the largest Kurdish party in the country.

Harun Aslanbaş and privates Onur Bozdemir, Kemal Pide, Ferit Demir, Yakup Mutlu, Cengiz Sarıbaş and Fatih Yonca.

[1] The Association to Serve All Families of Martyrs complained about the Democratic Society Party and how it had been "encouraging people to hate and hostility" and waved flags at an Ankara courthouse.

Hidayet İ turned out to be a double agent, who had been an informant to the Gendarmerie, the PKK and the DHKP-C.[16] The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union expressed its wish in a statement "that the perpetrators will be brought to justice as soon as possible" and reminded Turkey it had the EU's full support "in the fight against terrorism".

[17] Turkish daily Hürriyet suggested reports from Washington, D.C., indicated "it was obvious the prime minister was shocked with the sad news he received".