Dozens have been killed and injured as two huge explosions rocked at a peace rally in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in what the authorities called a “terrorist attack.”
READ MORE: Powerful blasts rock Ankara peace rally, dozens killed
11 October 2015
Hundreds of people have gathered in Ankara to take part in a ‘Labor, Peace, Democracy’ rally. The rally was initially scheduled to take place on Saturday, however the event was scuttled by a double bomb attack.
Thousands of people gathered on the streets of Ankara on Sunday to mourn the victims of the bombings. The video shows people transporting the body of one of the victims, 30-year-old Korkmaz Tedik, to a burial site on the outskirts of the Turkish capital.
Dozens of Kurdish protesters and pro-Kurdish activists rallied in front of Dresden's opera house on Sunday to pay tribute to the victims of the twin bombings in Ankara.
Islamic State could be responsible for the Ankara terror attacks, according to two top Turkish security sources, as quoted by Reuters.
"This attack was in the style of Suruc and all the signs are that it was a copy of that attack ... the signs point to ISIL [Islamic State]," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"All signs indicate that the attack may have been carried out by ISIL. We are completely focused on ISIL," the second source told Reuters.
The death toll from Saturday’s attacks has reportedly climbed, with 120 bodies identified and eight still unidentified, according to the Turkish HDP party, as quoted by Reuters.
There’s been no official confirmation of the casualty count.
Turkey is set to go ahead with its November 1 parliamentary elections despite the deadly attacks on Saturday.
"Postponing the elections as a result of the attack is not on the table at all, even as an option. The elections will be held on Nov. 1 as planned," a top government official told Reuters.
"Because of the rising risks, the security at election rallies, which is already being increased, will be raised further. The election will be held in a secure way," the official added.
Turkey has launched airstrikes against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeast of the country, as well as in the Metina and Zap areas of northern Iraq.
A total of 14 militants were killed in southeast Turkey, the military statement said, as quoted by Reuters.
The airstrikes come a day after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared a “state of inactivity,” promising to halt all attacks ahead of Turkey’s elections in November.
“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,” the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella movement that includes the PKK, said in a statement.
Thousands of people have gathered in central Ankara, near the spot where Saturday's blasts took place. Many are shouting anti-government slogans, calling President Tayyip Erdogan and the police "murderers".
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Scuffles have broken out in Ankara as police prevented mourners from laying flowers at the site of Saturday's deadly blasts. Two co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish HDP party planned to hold a memorial rally at the spot on Sunday, but were held back by police who said they were still working at the site.
Earlier, overnight clashes broke out as protesters lit fires on the streets and threw Molotov cocktails at police in the wake of the deadly bombings.
Across Europe, thousands took to the streets to protest the deadly Ankara attacks.
About 1,000 people, most of them Kurdish, demonstrated on Paris’s Place de la Republique, according to local police estimates.
The rally was organized by the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, with its official statement saying that the Council “strongly condemns this cowardly and disgusting attack.”
Around 400 people took to the streets of the northeastern French city of Strasbourg, and a few hundred others in the southern city of Marseille, where some protesters held signs that read, “Murderer Erdogan,” AFP reported.
In Zurich, Switzerland, about 1,000 people protested in the city center, with some demonstrators holding signs that read, “Stop state terror in Turkey.”
One of the suicide bombers in Saturday's Ankara explosons was a man aged 25-30, Turkey’s TGRT TV channel reports, citing security officials. Police have studied some 160 fingerprints at the scene and found one that likely belongs to one of the perpetrators. They also found a body with highly-concentrated traces of gunpowder and a dismembered finger, likely one of the terrorists.
10 October 2015
The death toll from Saturday’s bomb attacks in Ankara has risen to 95, the office of Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has announced.
The attacks in Turkey are an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country on the threshold of parliamentary elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the “Russia-1” TV-Channel.
“Of course, it is an attempt to destabilize the situation in a friendly neighboring country. Moreover, it has been done during the election campaign,” the Russian president said.
“That is a clear provocation,” he added. “This is a insolent terrorist attack, a terrorist crime with a big number of victims.”
Turkish journalist, Onur Burcak Belli, who was covering the ill-fated rally in Ankara, told RT that it seemed that the attack had specifically targeted the Kurdish protestors.
“There were many other groups; many other people, but the explosion took place where the Kurdish people were gathering. So, apparently they were the target of this explosion,” she said.
The journalist also pointed out an unusual lack of security at Saturday’s rally, which made the bombing possible.
“It was very interesting that there was no police forces around; no security people around because, normally, in Turkey all these demonstrations are always secured by the police and it’s always hard to get inside without going through any police check points,” she stressed.
Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) say the death toll in twin bomb attacks on the Ankara rally has risen to 97.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled a planned official visit to Turkmenistan after twin bombings which killed 86 people in the capital Ankara, sources in his office told Reuters on Saturday.
Washington has strongly condemns “heinous" terrorist attack in Ankara.
"In light of the ongoing violence in Turkey and the region, it is particularly important at this time that all Turkish citizens recommit to peace and stand together against terror," the US State Department said in a statement.
Islamic State, militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) are potential suspects behind Saturday blasts, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced that Turkey is to hold three days of national mourning over the Ankara attacks.
He added that there is strong evidence that two suicide bombers carried out the attack.
The death toll from the tragedy has reached 86, Reuters cited Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu as saying.
He also confirmed that at least 186 people have been injured in the incident, with 28 of them in intensive care.
The explosions were apparently the result of suicide bombing, a senior Turkish security official told Reuters.
A ban has been imposed on broadcasting the mages that directly showed the explosions and the results of the blast, a Turkish official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The death toll from the Ankara blasts has reached 47 people, Hurriyet Daily News reports, citing the Turkish prosecutor’s office.
Shortly after the attack, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced it was planning to halt its activity in Turkey, a news website close to the PKK reported, as cited by Reuters.
Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) claimed that their members were specifically targeted in the deadly explosions.
"Just after the beginning of the march, at about 10:04 a.m., two bomb attacks occurred among the HDP cortege. For this reason, it is understood that the main target of the attacks was the HDP," the party said."Many of the injured people are heavily injured, so there is a fear that the number of dead people may increase."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan over the Ankara tragedy, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.
In his telegram, Putin expressed the hope “that the perpetrators of this cynical crime would be brought to justice, and confirmed readiness for close cooperation with the Turkish authorities in the fight against the terrorist threat," the statement added.
Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, condemned the attack
as “shocking and disturbing.”
He added: “This is a ruthless and barbaric attack on peaceful demonstrators. I express my condolences to all who have lost their friends and loved ones. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are fundamental pillars of democracy."
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has commented on the attack, calling for "solidarity and determination as the most meaningful response to terror."
The death toll from the explosions has reached 30 people, and at least 126 people have been injured, Turkey's Interior Ministry said.
According to Lami Ozgen, head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK, the bombs "exploded in very short intervals," AP reported.
The explosions occurred at a rally dubbed “Labor, Peace, Democracy,” shortly after it kicked off at 10:00 local time (0700 GMT). Turkey's largest trade unions were planning to stage a demonstration to protest the government's renewed military campaign against Kurdish militants.
A powerful explosion took place near Ankara Central railway station, the busiest in Turkey, which serves dozens of trains daily, local media reported.