Turkey ‘close’ to naming Ankara bombers

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has emerged as the leading suspect behind Saturday’s terrorist attack in Turkey’s capital, Ankara that killed 97 people-the worst the country has faced in its modern history.

He said the attack Saturday aimed to influence the result of Turkey’s November. 1 election and cast a shadow over the polls. “It was definitely a suicide bombing…DNA tests are being conducted”.

The government, which has denied any responsibility in the incident, is attempting to identify the two male suicide bombers it blamed for the bloodshed.

Turkey announced after the Suruc bombing that it would allow its southern Incerlik airbase to be used by the US-led coalition targeting IS in Syria.

The two explosions happened seconds apart as hundreds gathered for a march organised by pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups to protest over the conflict between Turkish security forces and militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the south east of the country.

The Islamic State group is the “No. 1 priority” in the investigation into twin bombings that killed almost 100 people in the Turkish capital, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday.

He said that this was an attack on the stability and democracy in Turkey and its people.

In cities and towns across Turkey they are burying their dead.

Mourners carry the coffin of Abdullah Erol, a victim of Saturday’s bomb blasts in Ankara, during a funeral ceremony in the Kurdish dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, October 12, 2015.

Turkish authorities initially suggested Kurdish rebels and far-left radical groups could also have been capable of carrying out the bombings.

The strikes took place after the Turkish government ignored a cease-fire proposal put forward by the PKK, the BBC reports.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted a group of peace activists near Ankara Central rail station with two blasts.

However, government officials made clear that, despite the security concerns, elections would go ahead.

President Erdogan called the elections in the hope they will restore the AK party, which he founded, to an overall parliamentary majority.

Riot police with water cannon and armoured vehicles stood by as the crowd, a few chanting “Thief, Murderer Erdogan” and waving the flag of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), moved towards the mosque.