"There are very strong signs that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said following what was the deadliest attack of its kind on Turkish soil.
Davutoglu declared a three-day official mourning for the victims of the two explosions, as well as for people killed in terror attacks since July.
Witnesses said the two explosions happened seconds apart shortly after 10am local time as hundreds gathered for a planned march to protest the conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast of the country.
“I heard one big explosion first and tried to cover myself as the windows broke. Right away there was the second one,” said Serdar, 37, who was working at a newspaper stand in the train station. “There was shouting and crying and I stayed under the newspapers for a while. I could smell burnt flesh.”
- There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.
Footage from the scene showed over a dozen bodies lying in the streets, covered by flags and banners, including those of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), with bloodstains and body parts scattered on the road.
Along with the 86 dead – a death toll that could rise further – 186 were wounded, 28 of whom were in intensive care, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told a press conference. The HDP later said 97 had died.
“Like other terror attacks, the one at the Ankara train station targets our unity, togetherness, brotherhood and future,” President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement, calling for “solidarity and determination”.
The White House also condemned what it called a "horrific terrorist" attack against one of its key allies in the region.
"The fact that this attack occurred ahead of a planned rally for peace underscores the depravity of those behind it and serves as another reminder of the need to confront shared security challenges in the region," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
The attack ratcheted up tensions ahead of Turkey's November 1 snap elections which were already soaring amid the government's offensive on Kurdish militants.
"The United States will continue to stand side-by-side with the Turkish government and people as together we take on the scourge of terrorism,” Price added.
- Protests after attack
NATO member Turkey has been in a heightened state of alert since starting a “synchronized war on terror” in July, including air strikes against Islamic State group fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected Kurdish and Islamist militants at home.
Saturday’s attacks came as expectation mounted that PKK militants would announce a unilateral ceasefire, effectively restoring a truce that collapsed in July. The government had already dismissed the anticipated move as an election gambit to bolster the HDP, the pro-Kurdish party whose success at the June elections had helped erode the ruling AK party’s majority.
Hours after the bombing, the PKK ordered its fighters to halt operations in Turkey unless they faced attack. It said through the local Firat news website that it would avoid acts that could hinder a “fair and just election” on November 1.
Violence between the state and the PKK has escalated in recent months, with Ankara launching air strikes on militant camps in response to what it said were rising attacks on the security forces in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. Hundreds have since died.
Following Saturday’s blasts, hundreds of protesters chanting anti-government slogans gathered in Istanbul to try to march towards the city’s central Taksim Square, blaming the government for bomb attacks.
“Erdogan resign” and “Murderer AKP”, some of the crowd in Istanbul shouted, accusing President Erdogan and the ruling AK Party of responsibility for the violence.
Riot police with two water cannon vehicles watched on. Police have previously prevented demonstrators from trying to reach Taksim Square, the epicentre of weeks of violent anti-government protests during the summer of 2013.
Activists have accused the government of being behind previous attacks, including on an HDP rally in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir in June and a suicide bombing blamed on the Islamic State militant group in the town of Suruc in July, in order to stir up nationalist sentiment.
The charge has been have vehemently rejected by Turkey’s leaders.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
10/10/15
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