At least 97 people have been killed in twin explosions in Turkey’s capital Ankara, targeting activists gathering for a peace rally organised by leftist and pro-Kurdish opposition groups.
Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the blasts were likely carried out by two suicide bombers and declared three days of national mourning.
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 that 186 people were wounded, including 28 who are in intensive care.
Bodies were covered by flags and banners, including those of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), with bloodstains and body parts scattered on the road.
The area was to have hosted a peace rally organised by leftist groups later in the day, including the HDP.
“Many of the injured people are heavily injured, so there is a fear that the number of dead people may increase,” the party said in a statement.
There have been no claims of responsibility for the attack.
Turkish police fired in the air to disperse demonstrators angered by the deaths of their fellow activists from the scene.
Witnesses said the two explosions happened seconds apart shortly after 10:00am local time as hundreds gathered for a planned “peace” march to protest against the conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in the south-east.
“I heard one big explosion first and tried to cover myself as the windows broke. Right away there was the second one,” said Serdar, 37, who was working at a newspaper stand in the train station.
“There was shouting and crying and I stayed under the newspapers for a while. I could smell burnt flesh.”
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.
Bodies lay in two circles around 20 metres apart where the explosions had taken place.
Those involved in the peace march tended to the wounded lying on the ground, as hundreds of stunned people wandered around the streets.
“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,” Ahmet Onen, 52, said.
“A demonstration that was to promote peace has turned into a massacre, I don’t understand this.”
The United States condemned the bombing, calling it a heinous terrorist attack on peaceful demonstrators.
“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.
‘We are faced with a murderous state’
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan cancelled his engagements to consult with senior security and government officials, while HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas and the leader of the main opposition CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, also cancelled their plans for Saturday.
“I strongly condemn this heinous attack on our unity and our country’s peace,” Mr Erdogan said in a statement posted on the presidency’s website.
“Like other terror attacks, the one at the Ankara train station targets our unity, togetherness, brotherhood and future,” he said in a statement, calling for “solidarity and determination”.
Mr Demirtas said he blamed a “mafia state” in the country for the twin explosion.
“We are faced with a very big massacre, a vicious, barbarous attack,” he said.
“We are faced with a murderous state which has turned into a mafia and a state mentality which acts like a serial killer.
“Is it possible that a state with such a strong intelligence network did not have prior information on the attack?”
He drew a parallel with the bombing of an HDP rally in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir on the eve of the last election in June and a suicide bombing blamed on Islamic State in the town of Suruc near the Syrian border in July, which killed 33 mostly young pro-Kurdish activists.
The attack comes with Turkey on edge ahead of November 1 polls and a wave of unrest over recent months.
Fighting has resumed between the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and government forces after the collapse of a two-year ceasefire in July.
Over 140 members of the security forces have since been killed while Ankara claims to have killed over 1,700 Kurdish militants in a relentless bombing campaign.
After the attack the PKK declared a “state of inactivity” after months of attacks in Turkey, pledging to suspend all offensive actions ahead of the November polls.
“Heeding calls from Turkey and abroad, our movement has decided on a state of inactivity by our guerrillas, unless our people and our guerilla forces are attacked,” Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella movement that includes the PKK, said in a statement.
“During this process, our guerilla forces will refrain from carrying out planned activities, will not engage in any kind of activity apart from preserving its current position and make no attempts to hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election,” it said.
Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, United States and the European Union, the PKK launched a separatist insurgency in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.
source:abc.net.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 