After February’s attack Erdogan rejected the TAK claim of responsibility and insisted the assault was the work of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara regards as a branch of the PKK.
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Canberra said Australia’s ambassador to Turkey James Larsen was in his auto just 20 metres (yards) away from the bomb when it went off.
“Officials have blamed supporters of the Islamic state, Kurdish militants from the PKK and extreme leftist groups for various attacks inside Turkey”, Peter says.
Officials were speaking on a condition of anonymity on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing, though, it is understood one of the assailants was female.
Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, March 13, 2016.
Mr Erdogan also said Turkey would use its right to self-defence to prevent future attacks and called for national unity.
Health minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said the blast had killed 34 people and wounded 125 others, 19 of them seriously.
Thirty victims were killed at the scene and four others died in hospital.
Witnesses said smoke could be seen rising above the area from a distance, and square Kizilay has been closed fearing a possible second explosion.
According to the city governor’s office, another 75 people have been injured in the explosion in the the Guven park in the Kizilay district close to several bus stops.
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The U.S. Embassy in Ankara two days ago warned of a terrorist plot against Turkish government buildings and lodgings in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara, citing what it described as specific information. “We reaffirm our strong partnership with our NATO Ally Turkey in combatting the shared threat of terrorism”. It is also battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 30-month ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s. Authorities on Sunday had declared curfews in two towns in the mainly Kurdish southeast region in anticipation of large-scale military operations against PKK-linked militants.
