Kurdish militants and three Turkish soldiers killed

Nevertheless, Ankara still regards the PYD and the YPG as terrorists, directly supporting Kurdish fighters in Turkey who have been fighting against government forces.

The Holy Father also said there was sorrow because the attackers struck defenceless people who were demonstrating for peace. In the 1990s, the PKK softened its rhetoric, calling for autonomy rather than an independent state and the recognition of the cultural rights of Turkey’s estimated 1.5 million Kurds. The PKK had announced, in the hours after the attacks in Ankara on Saturday, a unilateral cease-fire in which it pledged to halt offensive attacks in advance of parliamentary elections scheduled for November 1.

Bloomberg wrote that family members said they “spent eight months complaining to authorities about his disappearance” before raising the issue in person with AKP Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu “at a provincial congress for the ruling party”.

Even in the face of increasing evidence that the attack was carried out by ISIS sympathizers, Turkey’s majority party is doubling down on its focus on the PKK. In elections last June, the HDP broke through to win 80 legislative seats.

One western security analyst in London said: “The attack highlights Turkey’s failures in urban anti-terror warfare, including its cyber and intelligence capabilities”.

Fearing a political fallout, the interim government rushed to secure a blanket media ban on covering and reporting about the deadly attacks, including interviews and even criticisms. The question before this election is whether the AKP will form a one-party government. This can involve a step up or a step down in the battle against Kurdish nationalism depending on whom the AKP partners with, although I find the latter to be increasingly unlikely.

Both brothers spent time in Syria, and together operated a cafe in Adiyaman that was one of Turkey’s “most well-known ISIS hangouts”, according to Bloomberg’s Benjamin Harvey. Germany said it would do the same.

“His Holiness Pope Francis is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and the injuries caused by the explosions in Ankara this morning, and he expresses his heartfelt solidarity with those affected by this tragedy”, Cardinal Parolin said in his October 11 telegram.

“President Erdoğan and US President Obama discussed strengthening of cooperation in fight against Daesh and what could be done regarding Russia’s military activities in Syria”.

“The blasts were at the two sides of the exit of the main train station in the city where the People’s Democratic Party [HDP] supporters were gathering”, reported Hurriyet Daily News. “And we will continue to appropriately support those groups that are proving effective against ISIL inside Syria”, he declared. A YPG statement, sent to Reuters on Monday, says, “The sensitive stage our country Syria is going through and rapid developments on the military and political front…require that there be a united national military force for all Syrians, joining Kurds, Arabs, Syrians and other groups”.