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Islamic State is prime suspect in Turkey bombing

Turkish Interior Minister Selami Altinok said the capital city was taking extra security precautions in the wake of the blasts, Reuters reported, citing CNN.

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DNA tests are being conducted to compare samples from the suspected bombers with family members of 20 Turkish extremists linked to IS.

Davutoglu said authorities are close to identifying one of the bombers, and that evidence points to “a certain group”.

With global concern growing over instability in Turkey, which suffered its worst terrorist attack at the weekend, United States President Barack Obama offered his condolences to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and solidarity “in the fight against terrorism”, the White House said.

Scuffles broke out in the Turkish capital yesterday as police prevented pro-Kurdish politicians and mourners from laying flowers at the site of two suspected suicide bombings that killed 95 people in the country’s deadliest attack in years.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said the death toll is higher, at 128. He added that identifying the attackers would lead to the discovery of which group was behind the attack but insisted that officials were looking at other groups.

On Sunday, the Turkish government carried out cross-border air strikes on PKK positions in southern Turkey and Iraq, clearly rejecting the new declaration of ceasefire announced by PKK on Saturday. The government however said there would be no postponement of November polls.

The deputy premier did not reveal the gender or identities of the suspects, citing a confidentiality order issued by Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor, but said that the investigation was “in its final stage and more or less concluded”.

Riot police with water cannon and armoured vehicles stood byas the crowd, a few chanting “Thief, Murderer Erdogan” and waving HDP flags, moved towards the mosque in the working class Umraniye neighbourhood of Istanbul.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted a leftist rally near Ankara’s historic train station calling for an end to the Kurdish conflict and political reform.

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The scale of the attacks was bigger than the one in 2003, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, when two synagogues, the Istanbul HSBC Bank headquarters and the British consulate were hit, killing 62 people.

A protester is overcome with emotion during a rally to protest Saturday's explosions in Ankara Turkey Sunday Oct. 11 2015. Turkey declared three days of mourning following Saturday's nearly simultaneous explosions that targeted a peace rally