“It was clear that Daesh had such an organisation in Gaziantep or was attempting to make room for itself in recent times”, President Erdogan said, using an alternative acronym for Isis.
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He said 69 people had been injured in the blast, 17 of them seriously.
The deadly attack also came amid struggles between the government and Kurdish militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, and as the country is still reeling from the aftermath of last month’s failed coup attempt, which the government has blamed on US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers. Gulen has denied any involvement.
The leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement that “all of those killed were Kurds”. “The bride and groom’s happiest day was poisoned”.
The bomb went off as guests spilled out into the streets of the city close to the Syrian border after the traditional henna night party, when guests have their hands and feet painted.
Hurriyet said the type of bomb used – stuffed with scraps of metal – was similar to the explosives used in previous suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatherings blamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station past year.
Women in scarves cried, sitting cross-legged outside the morgue waiting for word on missing relatives.
On Saturday Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that Ankara would play a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria in the coming six months to stop it being torn along ethnic lines. “There was blood and body parts everywhere”. “We are in pain, especially the women and children”.
“Both the Ankara and Suruc attacks were blamed on Islamic State, reinforcing the suspicion that the militant group was also behind the Gaziantep bombing on Saturday evening, the official said”. In our view, all these terrorist groups, whether the PKK, FETO, Daesh or PYD /YPG in Syria, are all the same.
Syrian rebels were preparing to launch an operation to capture a town held by Islamic State at the border with Turkey, a senior Syrian rebel said on Sunday.
Hundreds gathered for funerals on Sunday, with coffins draped in the green of Islam.
But other funerals would have to wait because numerous victims were blown to pieces and DNA forensics tests would be needed to identify them, security sources said. Earlier, officials said a destroyed suicide vest was found at the scene. In June, suspected IS militants attacked Istanbul’s main airport with guns and bombs, killing 44 people.
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Putin’s telegram said Sunday’s attack was shocking in its “cruelty and cynicism” and once again showed that “terrorism doesn’t recognize not only the laws of civilized society but also the very basic norms of human morality”.
