বৃহস্পতিবার, ১৪ নভেম্বর ২০২৪, ১১:১৬

Turkey in mourning after blasts kill almost 100

Turkey in mourning after blasts kill almost 100

 

 

Media captionCrowds gathered in Ankara for a memorial as Turkey started three days of mourning. Thousands of people have gathered in the centre of Turkey’s capital, Ankara, to pay tribute to the victims of bomb blasts which killed at least 95 people.

Brief scuffles broke out between the crowd and the police after some mourners tried to lay carnations at the site of the bombings. The pro-Kurdish HDP party, which organised Saturday’s rally, said 128 people were killed in the attacks.

Protesters have blamed the government for security failures around the rally. The government has rejected suggestions that it was to blame for the bombing.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there was evidence that two suicide bombers had carried out the attack. Turkey declared three days of mourning after Saturday’s attack, the deadliest ever in Turkey.

The attack, at a peace rally, left 245 people injured, with 48 of them in a serious condition. TV footage showed scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners.

People are now concerned about the escalation of violence and about maintaining security ahead of a re-run of June’s inconclusive parliamentary elections due to be held in three weeks’ time, our correspondent says.

The protesters say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has divided this nation with polarising rhetoric, pitting one side against the other and whipping up anti-Kurdish frenzy, says the BBC’s Mark Lowen in Istanbul.

Deep shock and anger in Ankara: “This is the worst scene I’ve ever seen.”

The blasts took place near the city’s central train station as people gathered for a march organised by leftist groups demanding an end to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the Turkish government.

The two explosions happened shortly after 10:00 as crowds gathered ahead of the rally. Amateur video footage showed a group of young people holding hands and singing, as the first blast hits.

After the ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state broke down in July, Turkey has spiralled into tit-for-tat attacks between the two sides, and tension between Kurds and Turkish nationalists has soared.

Amidst the frenzy of a repeat election in November, it was expected that something dangerous was imminent.

The pro-Kurdish HDP party has blamed the state. That is undoubtedly a reference to the so-called “deep state” often talked about here: a shady mix of nationalist forces either colluding with or supporting the government in power.

Protesters on Sunday accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of dividing the nation with polarising rhetoric, pitting one side against the other and whipping up anti-Kurdish frenzy.

The West’s vital ally in the Middle East is now facing a perfect storm: Deep political polarisation, the bubble of economic success on the brink of bursting, a resumption of violence with the PKK, the threat from Islamic State, and two million Syrian refugees and counting.

The tragedy in Ankara is a sign of the dark times Turkey is now facing.

Who are the Kurds?

Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What’s going on?

No group has said it carried out the attack, but Mr Davutoglu suggested that Kurdish rebels or the Islamic State (IS) group were to blame.

Terrorism experts have said the attack is similar to one that was carried out in Suruc in southern Turkey by IS in July in which 30 people died, our correspondent says.

However, the leader of the HDP party, whose members were among those attending the rally, has blamed the state and cancelled all election rallies.

An HDP rally in the city of Diyarbakir was bombed in June, ahead of general elections in which the party entered parliament for the first time.

The party has previously blamed the government for colluding in attacks on Kurdish activists, which the government denies.

Cemalettin Hasimi, director of press and information at the prime minister’s office, told the BBC that such allegations were “a disgrace, unacceptable”.

A ceasefire between the Kurdish militant group the PKK and Turkey’s government broke down after the attack in Suruc, with the PKK accusing the security forces of collaborating with IS.

This led to an increase in attacks from both sides over the summer.

On Saturday, the PKK called on its fighters to halt its guerrilla activities in Turkey except in cases of self-defence.

A statement from an umbrella group that includes the PKK said its forces would “make no attempts to hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election”.




Comments are closed.



পুরানো সংবাদ সংগ্রহ

সোম মঙ্গল বুধ বৃহ শুক্র শনি রবি
 
১০
১১১২১৩১৪১৫১৬১৭
১৮১৯২০২১২২২৩২৪
২৫২৬২৭২৮২৯৩০  
All rights reserved © shirshobindu.com 2012-2024