In October past year, suicide bombers killed at least 95 people when they attacked a rally of pro-Kurdish and labour activists outside Ankara’s main train station.
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the information in a live nationally-televised address in front of Istanbul city Hall.
At least 30 people have been killed and almost 100 others have been injured after a suicide bomber targeted a wedding in the city of Gaziantep in southern Turkey, not far from the border with Syria, witnesses and local officials say.
The attack took place when a large group of people from a wedding party took to the streets in celebration.
“We are in pain, especially the women and children”, said eyewitness Ibrahim Ozdemir. The attacks by the PKK seemed to indicate the end of a fragile, two and a half year peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK, and the resumption of the three decades of conflict between them.
This major attack, while just one of many for Turkey, is likely to raise questions about whether the purge is weakening the government’s ability to prevent terrorist operations inside major cities in the country, and could prove embarrassing for the Erdogan government.
John Bass said “we stand by our ally Turkey and pledge to continue to work closely together to defeat the common threat of terrorism”.
Pope Francis has led hundreds of people in silent prayer for the victims of the Turkish wedding attack.
At least 30 people were killed and dozens more wounded late Saturday in the attack Saturday night, officials said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the bombing, which he said turned “a wedding party into a place of mourning” and he vowed to prevail over the “devilish” attacks.
Orhan Akin, Gaziantep bureau chief for the Ihlas News Agency, told CNN Turk that he saw “at least 20 ambulances carrying injured people”. He had previously said 94 were woungAIded in “the abhorrent terror bomb attack on a wedding”.
Earlier, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Mehmet Simsek, said the “barbaric” attack in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, appeared to be a suicide bombing.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The death toll from the Gaziantep attack rose to 50 early Sunday, according to the local governor’s office. He continued: “All terror groups, the PKK, Daesh, the (Gulen movement) are targeting Turkey”.
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Meanwhile the country is still reeling from a failed July 15 coup blamed on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his supporters from all state institutions.
