Trukish protesters gather at scene of Ankara bombings chanting anti-AKP slogans; number of dead rises to 95

Thousands of people, many chanting anti-government slogans, gathered in central Ankara on Oct. 11 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 labour activists near Ankara's main train station on Oct. 11, three weeks before an election, shocking a nation beset by conflict between the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a major presence at Oct. 10 march, said police attacked its leaders and members as they tried to leave carnations earlier at the scene. Some were hurt in the melee, it said in a statement.

"Murderer (President Tayyip) Erdoğan", "murderer police", the crowd chanted in Sıhhiye square, as riot police backed by water cannon vehicles blocked a main highway leading to the district where parliament and government buildings are located.

The government denies any suggestion of involvement.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, exposing a mosaic of domestic political perils, said Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), PKK factions or far-leftist radicals could have carried out the bombing.

Some have suggested militant nationalists opposed to any accommodation with Kurds seeking greater minority rights could have been responsible.

read more >>