95 killed, 246 wounded in deadliest act of terrorism in Turkey’s history
Two explosions hit a road injuction near Ankara Train Station on Saturday. (Photo: DHA)
October 10, 2015, Saturday/ 10:30:40/ SUNDAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
Twin explosions that hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and leftist activists outside Ankara's main train station on Saturday killed 95 people and wounded nearly 250, the Prime Ministry said, making the attack the deadliest single act of terrorism to occur on Turkish soil.
Speaking at a press conference along with the interior and justice ministers, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu had earlier said the death toll was 86 and that 186 people were also injured in the attack, 28 of whom are in critical condition. A total of 62 people died at the scene of the attack while 24 died at hospitals, according to the health minister.
Interior Minister Selami Altınok dismissed suggestions that the authorities failed to take sufficient security measures to prevent the attack, when responding to a question if he was planning to resign over alleged negligence on the part of the state.
The attack targeting the peace rally in downtown Ankara came weeks before a parliamentary election slated for Nov. 1 and is set to significantly heighten political tensions in the country. Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), lambasted the government after the attack, saying it was an "attack by the state on the people," and saying that world leaders should not send messages of condolences to the president or the prime minister for the deaths.
"We are faced with a very large massacre, a vicious, barbarous attack," he told reporters.
People at the site of the explosion. (Photo: AP)
The attack also came amid expectations of a cease-fire by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization until the election, three months after the organization ended a two-year-old cease-fire. The government had already dismissed the anticipated move as an election gambit to bolster the HDP.
Hours after the attack, a website close to the terrorist group said the PKK is halting its attacks in Turkey unless it comes under attack by Turkish security forces, in order to allow the election to proceed safely.
The HDP's surprisingly strong showing at a parliamentary election on June 7 was a major factor that stripped the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of a parliamentary majority for the first time since 2002. Critics say the resumption of violence between the security forces and the PKK in the weeks after the June 7 election was part of political maneuvering aimed at undermining support for the HDP in the upcoming vote, a charge AK Party officials deny.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, however reports suggest the bombings might be the work of two suicide bombers. The second bomb went off three seconds after the first explosion, Minister Altınok said at the press conference.
He declined to comment, however, on whether suicide bombers were involved, saying an investigation into the explosion is still under way.
The attack also came amid expectations of a cease-fire by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization until the election, three months after the organization ended a two-year-old cease-fire. The government had already dismissed the anticipated move as an election gambit to bolster the HDP.
Hours after the attack, a website close to the terrorist group said the PKK is halting its attacks in Turkey unless it comes under attack by Turkish security forces, in order to allow the election to proceed safely.
The HDP's surprisingly strong showing at a parliamentary election on June 7 was a major factor that stripped the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of a parliamentary majority for the first time since 2002. Critics say the resumption of violence between the security forces and the PKK in the weeks after the June 7 election was part of political maneuvering aimed at undermining support for the HDP in the upcoming vote, a charge AK Party officials deny.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, however reports suggest the bombings might be the work of two suicide bombers. The second bomb went off three seconds after the first explosion, Minister Altınok said at the press conference.
He declined to comment, however, on whether suicide bombers were involved, saying an investigation into the explosion is still under way.
(Photo: DHA)
Witnesses speaking to Reuters said the two explosions happened seconds apart shortly after 10 a.m., as hundreds gathered for a planned march to protest violence in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Southeast.
Bodies covered by flags and banners, including those of the HDP, lay scattered on the road among bloodstains and body parts.
"There was a massacre in the middle of Ankara. Two bombs exploded within very short intervals,” said Lami Özgen, the head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK), which was one of the groups that were a part of the planned march.
Video footage showed the explosion took place as protesters were performing a halay (a folk dance).
Witnesses speaking to Reuters said the two explosions happened seconds apart shortly after 10 a.m., as hundreds gathered for a planned march to protest violence in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish Southeast.
Bodies covered by flags and banners, including those of the HDP, lay scattered on the road among bloodstains and body parts.
"There was a massacre in the middle of Ankara. Two bombs exploded within very short intervals,” said Lami Özgen, the head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK), which was one of the groups that were a part of the planned march.
Video footage showed the explosion took place as protesters were performing a halay (a folk dance).
Those involved in the Ankara peace march tended to the wounded lying on the ground, as hundreds of stunned people wandered around the streets. Bodies lay in a circular formation approximately 20 meters apart in the area where the explosions took place.
Eyewitness Şenol Karakaş, who serves as the co-spokesperson for the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (DSİP) and who was present at the site when the bombs detonated, spoke to Sunday's Zaman by phone.
“It was quite peaceful, the crowd was growing and people were dancing the halay [folk dance]. There were placards for peace; it was a peace demonstration,” Karakaş explained, continuing: “First we heard a sound and everyone fell on the ground. Then about two or three seconds later we heard another sound; they were back to back. The bombs were close to one another.”
Eyewitness Şenol Karakaş, who serves as the co-spokesperson for the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (DSİP) and who was present at the site when the bombs detonated, spoke to Sunday's Zaman by phone.
“It was quite peaceful, the crowd was growing and people were dancing the halay [folk dance]. There were placards for peace; it was a peace demonstration,” Karakaş explained, continuing: “First we heard a sound and everyone fell on the ground. Then about two or three seconds later we heard another sound; they were back to back. The bombs were close to one another.”
(Photo: DHA)
An angry crowd booed and threw bottles when the health and interior ministers arrived in a convoy at the scene, and they quickly left the scene. Some chanted slogans against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party, blaming them for the attack.
An angry crowd booed and threw bottles when the health and interior ministers arrived in a convoy at the scene, and they quickly left the scene. Some chanted slogans against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party, blaming them for the attack.
Diyarbakır and Suruç
HDP leader Demirtaş said the attack in Ankara was similar to this summer's attacks in Diyarbakır and Suruç.
A blast at an HDP rally days before the June 7 election in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır killed five people, and a suicide bomb attack targeting a press conference by a group of pro-HDP and leftist activists in the southeastern town of Suruç on July 20 killed more than 30 activists.
Both the Diyarbakır and Suruç attacks were supposedly carried out by people said to have links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), although critics question how they were able to evade the police and the intelligence services.
A blast at an HDP rally days before the June 7 election in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır killed five people, and a suicide bomb attack targeting a press conference by a group of pro-HDP and leftist activists in the southeastern town of Suruç on July 20 killed more than 30 activists.
Both the Diyarbakır and Suruç attacks were supposedly carried out by people said to have links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), although critics question how they were able to evade the police and the intelligence services.
HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş speaks to the reporters in Ankara. (Photo: DHA)
In a statement early on Saturday, the Interior Ministry condemned the attack, which it said "targets Turkey's democracy and peace."
President Erdoğan said he strongly condemned the attack, which he said targeted national unity, and said it was not different from “previous attacks on our troops, police forces, village guards, public officials and innocent citizens,” referring to the PKK attacks.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu canceled the next three days of his election campaigning and held an emergency meeting with the country's heads of police and intelligence agencies. Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also canceled his election meeting that was planned to take place in İstanbul on Saturday, while the president cut short his program in İstanbul to return to the capital.
President Erdoğan said he strongly condemned the attack, which he said targeted national unity, and said it was not different from “previous attacks on our troops, police forces, village guards, public officials and innocent citizens,” referring to the PKK attacks.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu canceled the next three days of his election campaigning and held an emergency meeting with the country's heads of police and intelligence agencies. Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also canceled his election meeting that was planned to take place in İstanbul on Saturday, while the president cut short his program in İstanbul to return to the capital.
A woman cries as she tends to a victim at the site of the explosion. (Photo: AP)
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