Funerals took place Monday for a few of the 97 people killed in twin suicide bombings Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is now blaming on the Islamic State.
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Yeni Safak, a newspaper close to the government, said investigators had determined that one of the bombers was a male about 25 or 30. DNA tests are being conducted…
Security officials believe the bombs bore all the hallmarks of a suicide attack in July in Suruc close to the border with Syria also blamed on radical Islamists.
Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), one of the rally’s organizers, called the blasts an “attack by the state against the people”.
Pro-Kurdish demonstrators have held rallies in Germany and France to slam the recent bloody bombings in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, which killed over 90 people.
Davutoglu said Turkey had received intelligence that Kurdish rebels or the Daesh militants were planning suicide bombings and said two would-be bombers were detained before Saturday’s attack.
But the rally that was attacked on Saturday was organized by Turkish and Kurdish activists calling for more democracy – and opposed to Erdogan’s agenda.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people marched toward a mosque in an Istanbul suburb for the funeral service of several victims of the deadly attack.
Erdogan, who has been trying to tighten his grip on Turkey and transform his multi-cultural country from a secular to an Islamic state, denies the charge.
He said the attack aimed to influence the result of Turkey’s November 1 election and cast a shadow over the polls.
One of the victims of Saturday’s attacks has been identified as 70-year-old Meryem Bulut, a member of the Saturday Mothers group, who have protested about their missing sons since the 1990s.
Kurdish forces have been battling ISIS jihadists across a swath of northern Iraq and Turkey and the Turkish government recently changed its stance to allow the U.S.to launch strikes on the militant group’s positions from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan had already dismissed the anticipated PKK ceasefire declaration as a “tactic” ahead of the election, reiterating government demands that the militants lay down arms and leave Turkey.
A total of 145 Turkish security forces have been martyred within the last 98 days amid a wave of attacks and an ongoing armed conflict in Turkey since July 7, figures compiled by Anadolu Agency reveal.
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ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the carnage, which struck during a peace rally.
