Policeman killed in attack in southeast Turkey

“Although Islamic State has been held responsible for this attack, Turkey’s AKP government, by resisting the taking of effective measures to prevent Islamic State and other reactionary forces, bears the real responsibility”, the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose support base is mostly Kurdish, said in a statement.

In Ankara, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened his cabinet to discuss an action plan for strengthening security on Turkey’s border with Syria after Monday’s devastating attack in the town of Suruc. Earlier on Thursday it fired tank shells across the frontier after fire from Islamic State militants killed a Turkish soldier near Kilis, an area where Ankara had recently sent reinforcements.

Adding to tensions in Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the killings on Wednesday of a police officer and a member of a government counterterrorism unit in the province of Sanliurfa, which encompasses Suruç.

Turkey has agreed to allow US planes to launch air strikes against Islamic State militants from the United States air base at Incirlik, close to the Syrian border, US defence officials said on Thursday.

Turkish officials, speaking to local media, say the suicide bomber was a 20-year-old Turkish citizen.

Turkish officials revealed they have arrested more than 500 people suspected of working with IS in the last few months.

The victims’ photos are being circulated on social media.

At least 11 people were detained overnight as anti-government protests raged for a second day, turning violent in Istanbul and other cities.

As reported by a Turkish official who has chosen to stay anonymous, the government restored the site after content relating to the bombings including hate speech was removed.

It is a dramatic reversal of previous practice, under which Syrian refugees – but also fighters – crossed fields between the two neighbours under the gaze of Turkish border guards.

The two police officers were found shot dead at their home in the town of Ceylanpinar on the border with Syria, two days after the Suruc suicide attack blamed on ISIS. The country had to unblock the sites after the highest court said it was unconstitutional.

It also seems to contradict leaked Turkish proposals for dealing with the crisis, under which it would set up a buffer zone in northern Syria against both Isil and the Assad regime, which Mr Erdogan wants to bring down.

In the past, their decision to block social media has been criticized by human rights groups and many governments around the world.

The group said it had been tracking his movements for three months and alleged Gul had himself been planning attacks in Istanbul.