Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
TV video shot by the Dogan News agency and broadcast on Suzco TV shows the moment of the blasts ahead of a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 10, 2015.(Photo: Dogan News agency/Suzcu TV)
At least 86 people were killed and 186 injured<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saturday in a pair of bomb blasts that erupted ahead of a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>peace rally in the capital Ankara, according to senior Turkish officials.
The bodies of many of the dead were covered or carried off in remnants of the colorful flags and peace banners.
Interior Minister Selami Alt?nok and Health Minister Mehmet Müezzino?lu said in a statement that 86 people were killed and 186 injured -- including 26 in serious condition.
The first of two blasts<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was caught in dramatic video from Turkey's Dogan news agency of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a line of demonstrators<span style="color: Red;">*</span>holding hands and chanting. A large, orange<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flash erupts behind them, knocking people to the ground.
Some<span style="color: Red;">*</span>14,000 people were believed to be in the area at the time, the Turkey's Anadolu news agency reports.
A witness said one of the explosions occurred at the spot where demonstrators were leaving their bags before entering a security cordon for the rally, Turkey's Dogan news agency reports.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Daily Sabah newspaper reports that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a suicide bomber was believed responsible for the blast, although this could not be immediately confirmed.
The interior ministry condemned the attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that it said "targets Turkey's democracy and peace," the Associated Press reports.
People help victims following an explosion at the main train station in Turkey's capital Ankara, on Oct. 10, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Fatih Pinar, AFP/Getty Images)
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called an emergency security meeting to discuss the attack. His office said he was suspending his election campaign programs for the next three days. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short his program in Istanbul to return to the capital.
“There was a massacre in the middle of Ankara,” said Lami Ozgen, head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK. “Two bombs exploded in very short intervals.”
No group or person immediately claimed responsibility for the explosions, which occurred only minutes apart. Turkey is embroiled in struggles both with the Islamic State in bordering Syria and with Kurdish separatists.
Kurdish rebels declared a temporary cease-fire Saturday afternoon ahead of Turkey’s November election.
In July, a suicide bombing blamed on the Islamic State group killed 33 people in a town near Turkey’s border with Syria.A leftist militant group has also carried out suicide bombings in Turkey.
The rally, organized near Ankara's train station by the country's public sector workers' trade union, was calling for an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces.
The attack was carried out before the crowd —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>many arriving from the train station —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reached Sihhiye Square, where police had established a security cordon, the Anadolu news agency reports.
“There was a massacre in the middle of Ankara,” said Lami Ozgen, head of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK. “Two bombs exploded in very short intervals.”
“The toll is very high,” said Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, whose members attended the rally, the Hurriyet Daily News reports. <span style="color: Red;">*</span>“There are dozens of dead and hundreds of injuries. Some of our friends are in serious condition.”
The attack comes just weeks before Turkey's Nov. 1 elections. Three Turkish parties suspended the political activities following the blast, the Anadolu news agency reports.
The Firat news agency reports that the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, announced Saturday afternoon that will halt<span style="color: Red;">*</span>armed attacks against Turkey "unless they are attacked." The pro-PKK news agency said the Kurdish militant group<span style="color: Red;">*</span>branded as a lie the claims by Turkey's ruling party that it was trying to disrupt Turkey's elections.
“During this process, our guerrilla forces will avoid conducting planned actions, will be engaged in no activities apart from maintaining its current position, and make no attempts to hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election,” the PKK said in a statement, the Firat news agency reports.
The statement of a unilateral ceasefire<span style="color: Red;">*</span>appeared to be in response to the deadly attacks in Ankara but did not specifically mention it.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed