People gather after an explosion in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey, early Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016.
Advertisement
The war has risked destabilizing Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally that has faced a wave of terror attacks this year and an attempted military coup in July.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany stands by Turkey in the fight against terrorism.
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, the AP said.
Later, addressing the nation before Istanbul’s city hall, Erdogan said the attacker in Gaziantep was aged between 12 and 14. Ankara considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters a terrorist group and worries their advance against Islamic State will encourage Kurdish militants in Turkey.
Saturday’s wedding party was for a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, it said, and the groom was among those injured. Ten people were killed in bomb attacks, mostly police and soldiers, in an escalation that officials blamed the PKK.
The HDP said “we condemn and curse the ones who launched this attack, both the forces and ideology behind their actions”.
Multiple opposition parties denounced the attack, as did many foreign governments including the U.S., Germany, Austria, Russia, Egypt, Sweden, Greece, France, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan and global institutions including the United Nations, the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
“The perpetrators of this barbaric act cynically and cowardly targeted a wedding, killing dozens and leaving scores wounded”, said Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, in a statement.
According to the Associated Press, John Bass, the United States ambassador to Turkey, condemned the “barbaric attack” and said that the USA “stands by our ally Turkey and pledge to continue to work closely together to defeat the common threat of terrorism”. USA -backed Syrian rebel groups have been seizing territory from ISIS near the Turkish border recently.
Francis concluded the prayer by asking “for the gift of peace for everyone”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday expressed condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the recent explosion that targeted a wedding celebration in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, the Kremlin press service said.
The bride and groom – Besna and Nurettin Akdogan – survived the attack and were in hospital, but were not critically wounded, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The report said the new figure came from the Gaziantep governor’s office. Seventeen of the injured were “heavily” wounded, Erdogan said.
Officials say Saturday’s attack in Gaziantep, near Syria’s border, appeared to be a suicide bombing.
US Vice President Joe Biden will visit Turkey on Wednesday, with Turkey’s demand for Gulen’s extradition to be top of the agenda.
Earlier this week, two vehicle bombs targeting police stations killed at least six people and wounded at least 219 others.
Advertisement
Turkish President Tayvip Erdogan described the bombing as “heinous”. He continued: “All terror groups, the PKK, Daesh, the (Gulen movement) are targeting Turkey”.
