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Protesters gather at scene of Ankara bombings

Thousands gather in Ankara's Sıhhiye Square to commemorate victims in Turkey's deadliest terror attack

Ersin Çelik
13:09 - 11/10/2015 Pazar
Update: 14:47 - 11/10/2015 Pazar
REUTERS

Thousands of people gathered in central Ankara on Sunday near the scene of bomb blasts which killed at least 95 people, mourning the victims of the most deadly attack of its kind on Turkish soil.



Two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and labor activists near Ankara's main train station on Saturday, three weeks before an election, shocking a nation beset by conflict between the state and Kurdish militants.



Turkish investigators worked on Sunday to identify the perpetrators and victims of the attack. Newspaper headlines reflected the mixture of grief and anger.



One of the bombers had been identified as a male aged between 25-30 after analyzing bodies at the scene and taking fingerprints, the Yeni Şafak daily said.



There were no claims of responsibility for the attack, which came as external threats mount for NATO member Turkey, with increased fighting across its border with Syria and incursions by Russian warplanes on its air space over the last week.



Prime Minister Davutoğlu's office named 52 of the victims overnight and said autopsies were continuing. It said 246 wounded people were still being treated, 48 of them in intensive care.



"The necessary work is being conducted to identify those behind the attack and quickly bring them to justice," a statement said.



Relatives and friends of the casualties waited anxiously on Sunday morning outside the hospitals where the wounded were being treated.



The two blasts happened seconds apart on Saturday morning as crowds, including pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP activists, leftists, labour unions and other civic groups, gathered for a march to protest over the deaths of hundreds since conflict resumed between security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, militants in the mainly southeastern provinces of the country.



Hours after the bombing, the PKK, as widely expected beforehand, ordered its fighters to halt operations in Turkey unless they faced attack. It said it would avoid acts that could hinder a "fair and just election" on Nov. 1.



#Ankara attacks
#Turkey explosions
#terrorism
#suicide bombings
9 yıl önce