Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
Get the news
Log In or Subscribe to skip
449 12 [h=6]Share This Story![/h]Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about
[h=4]Turkish PM blames suicide bombers in peace rally attack that killed 86[/h]Two bombs exploded seconds apart as people gathered in capital of Ankara.
{# #}
[h=4]Sent![/h]A link has been sent to your friend's email address.
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
[h=6]Join the Nation's Conversation[/h]To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs
[h=2]UP NEXT[/h][h=2]03[/h]
At least 86 people were killed and over 186 were injured when two explosions hit the Turkish capital Ankara Saturday.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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)
Two suicide bombers were likely responsible for a devastating attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>near<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a planned<span style="color: Red;">*</span>peace rally Saturday in the Turkish capital of Ankara that killed 86 people and injured 186, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised address to the nation.
Davutoglu<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called for three days of mourning in a country still reeling from the carnage. The two bomb blasts, about 50 yards apart, went off at the main train station as thousands poured in to attend a rally that included, among others, labor unions and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the pro-Kurdish HDP, or People's Democratic Party.
"This is an attack that does not target a specific group; it is an attack on the entire nation and an attack on our unity," the prime minister<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said in calling for a fight against<span style="color: Red;">*</span>terrorism.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Turkey is a country that has managed to maintain peace in the region."
"We have substantial intelligence that the attack [in Ankara] was undertaken by two suicide bombers," he said.
No group immediately<span style="color: Red;">*</span>claimed responsibility for the bombings.
At least 26 of the injured were in serious condition, Interior Minister Selami Altinok and Health Minister Mehmet Müezzino?lur said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a statement releasing the number of causalities.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Müezzino?lu said 62 people died<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at the scene and 24 died in hospitals.
The bodies of many of the dead, hit as they were leaving the training station, were covered or carried off in remnants of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>colorful flags and peace banners in the deadliest attacks in Turkey in years.
The first of the two blasts<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was caught in dramatic video<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a line of demonstrators<span style="color: Red;">*</span>holding hands and chanting, according to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Turkey's Dogan news agency. A large, orange<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flash erupted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>behind them, knocking people to the ground.
Hours afterward, the government imposed a temporary news blackout covering images that showed the moment of the blasts, gruesome or bloody pictures or "images that create a feeling of panic." A spokesman warned media organizations they could face a "full blackout" if they did not comply, the Associated Press reports.
Many people in Ankara reported being unable to access Twitter and other social media websites after the blasts. It was not clear if authorities had blocked access to the websites, but Turkey often does impose blackouts following attacks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attacks as "terrorist acts," calling it a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"loathsome attack that targeted our unity and our togetherness."
Bodies of victims are covered with flags and banners at the site of an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 10, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Burhan Ozbilici, AP)
At the White House, Ned Price, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said the U.S. "condemns in the strongest terms today’s horrific terrorist attack" and said that mounting the attack prior to a peace rally underscores the "depravity" of the perpetrators.
Turkey is embroiled in struggles both with the Islamic State in bordering Syria and with Kurdish separatists.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The interior ministry condemned the attack — which comes just weeks before the nation's Nov. 1 general election<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span> saying it "targets Turkey's democracy and peace," the Associated Press reported.
Some<span style="color: Red;">*</span>14,000 people were believed to be in the area at the time, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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, Dogan reported.
“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.”
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)
The prime minister<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called an emergency security meeting to discuss the attack. His office said he was suspending his election campaign for the next three days.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Erdogan<span style="color: Red;">*</span>cut short his campaign in Istanbul to return to the capital.
Three Turkish parties also suspended political activities following the blast, Anadolu news agency reported.
Hours later, Kurdish rebels declared a temporary cease-fire ahead of Turkey’s November election.
Saturday's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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 toll is very high,” said Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, whose members attended the rally, the Hurriyet Daily News reported. <span style="color: Red;">*</span>“There are dozens of dead and hundreds of injuries. Some of our friends are in serious condition.”
The Firat news agency reported<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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 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 reported.
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.
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.
0) { %> 0) { %>
0) { %>
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed