Turkish peace rally bomb toll rises to 97

The so-called Islamic State is the focus of investigations into a twin suicide bombing that killed at least 97 people in the Turkish capital Ankara.

One of the victims of Saturday’s attacks has been identified as 70-year-old Meryem Bulut, a member of the Saturday Mothers group, who have protested about their missing sons since the 1990s.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV, Mr Davutoglu said the latest bombings were an attempt to “cast a shadow” over and influence the outcome of an election on 1 November.

“Identification efforts continue on the bodies of two male terrorists who were ascertained to be suicide bombers”, the office said in a statement.

DNA tests are being conducted to compare samples from the suspected bombers with family members of 20 Turkish extremists linked to IS.

The rally on Saturday was organised by Turkish and Kurdish activists to call for increased democracy and an end to the renewed fighting between Turkey’s security forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the southeast that has killed hundreds since July.

“Thief, Murderer Erdogan” chanted mourners at one funeral in Istanbul, waving flags from the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, a left-leaning, pro-Kurdish party that claims it was the target of the bombings.

“These attacks won’t turn Turkey into a Syria”, Davutoglu said. All efforts should be made to identify perpetrators behind the attacks and bring them to justice, and to examine all possible security and intelligence failings which led to the biggest attack on civilians in Turkey’s modern history, said Human Rights Watch.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Kurdish rebels and Islamic State militants were the most likely culprits.

Unrest continued elsewhere in the mainly Kurdish region, with the historic Sur district of Diyarbakir city remaining under round-the-clock curfew for the third day on Monday after police on Sunday fired tear gas to prevent protesters entering the district, witnesses said.

He said the attack was obviously meant to have an impact on Turkey’s elections scheduled in three weeks.

UPI reported Turkish officials as saying that Saturday’s air strikes had killed 14 rebels in southwestern Turkey, while Sunday’s attacks targeted parts of northern Iraq, killing over 35 rebels.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people marched toward a mosque in an Istanbul suburb for the funeral service of several victims of the deadly attack.

The attack follows an upsurge in violence between the Turkish government and militants from Turkey’s Kurdish minority.