At least 86 people were killed Saturday in the Turkish capital Ankara
when twin blasts ripped through groups of leftist and pro-Kurdish
activists gathering for an anti-government peace rally, the deadliest
attack in the history of modern Turkey.
The attack, near Ankara’s main train station, ratcheted up tensions
ahead of Turkey’s November 1 snap elections which were already soaring
amid the government’s offensive on Kurdish militants.
Bodies of the slain activists were seen strewn across the ground
after the blasts, with the banners they had been holding lying next to
them for the “Work, Peace and Democracy” rally.
Sixty-two people died at the scene of the blasts and 24 more then
succumbed to their wounds in hospital, Health Minister Mehmet
Muezzinoglu told reporters in Ankara. He said another 186 people had
been injured in the attack, 28 of them seriously.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the “heinous
attack”, saying it was aimed at “our unity and our country’s peace.”
A Turkish government official told AFP that the authorities “suspect
that there is a terrorist connection,” without giving further details.
Reports said the authorities were investigating if a suicide bomber was
involved.
Interior Minister Selami Altinok said he would not resign, denying there was a “security vacuum” in policing at the rally.
There were scenes of chaos after the blasts, as ambulances raced to
get to the wounded and police cordoned off the area around the train
station.
“We heard one huge blast and then one smaller explosion and then
there was a great movement and panic. Then we saw corpses around the
station,” said Ahmet Onen, 52.
“A demonstration that was to promote peace has turned into a massacre, I don’t understand this,” he said, sobbing.
Turkish police fired in the air to disperse demonstrators angered by
the deaths of their fellow activists from the scene, an AFP
correspondent reported.
– ‘Barbaric attack’ –
Amateur footage broadcast by NTV television showed smiling activists
holding hands and dancing and then suddenly falling to the ground as a
huge explosion went off behind them.
Reports said that hundreds of people in Ankara had rushed to hospital to donate blood for the victims.
The blast was the deadliest in the history of the modern Turkish
Republic, surpassing the May 2013 twin bombings in Reyhanli on the
Syrian border that killed over 50 people.
With international concern growing over instability in the key NATO
member, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged Turkey to
“stand united against terrorists.”
French President Francois Hollande condemned the “odious terrorist
attack” while Russian President Vladimir Putin passed his condolences
to Erdogan.
US ambassador John Bass said he was “appalled by the terrorist attack.”
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was hosting a meeting of top
officials, including powerful spy chief Hakan Fidan, in the early
afternoon to discuss the attack.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) was to have been one
of several groups that was to have taken part in the pro-peace rally.
“We are faced with a huge massacre. A barbaric attack has been committed,” said the HDP’s leader Selahattin Demirtas.
He blamed a “mafia state” and a “state mentality which acts like a serial killer” for the attack.
– PKK suspends activities –
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| Turkey’s deadliest attack - Shobizz Blog |
The attack comes with Turkey on edge ahead of November 1 polls and a wave of unrest over the past few months.
An attack in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc on July 20
targeting pro-HDP activists and blamed on Islamic State (IS) jihadists
killed 32 people and wounded a hundred others.
The militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) accused Ankara of
collaborating with IS and resumed attacks on the Turkish security forces
after observing a two-year ceasefire.
Over 140 members of the security forces have since been killed while
Ankara claims to have killed over 1,700 Kurdish militants in weeks of
bombardments of PKK targets in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
With conspicuous timing, the PKK Saturday announced it would suspend all attacks — except in self defence — ahead of the polls.
“Heeding calls from Turkey and abroad, our movement has decided on a
state of inactivity by our guerillas, unless our people and our guerilla
forces are attacked,” Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella
movement that includes the PKK, said in a statement.
The HDP performed strongly in the last election on June 7, winning 80
seats in parliament to deprive Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) of an outright majority for the first time since it came to
power in 2002.
The AKP then failed to form a coalition in months of talks, prompting
Erdogan — who had been hoping for a large majority to push through
reforms to boost his powers — to call another election on November 1.
The office of Davutoglu said that he had cancelled election campaigning for the next three days.
