Turks mourn Ankara bombing victims

It is considered to be the deadliest terror attack in Turkey’s history with Davutoglu declaring three days of national mourning following the incident.

Sajjan Gohel, the worldwide security director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation in London, told the network: “An attack that took place in Ankara is very much designed to create political, economic and social repercussions, and one worries that in the build up to the elections there could be follow-up events that further damage the social fabric of Turkey”.

“A bomb into our hearts”, read a headline in the Hurriyet daily newspaper.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who heads the police counter-terrorism department, said British police are working closely with Turkish investigators.

Erdogan condemned the “heinous” attack in a statement and cancelled a visit to Turkmenistan.

The attack also left 246 wounded, 48 of whom are intensive care, according to an updated toll announced by Prime Minister Davutoglu’s office.

Correspondents at the scene said the blast site was littered with ball bearings which indicated the they were designed for maximum damage. Those taking part included the pro-Kurdish HDP, or People’s Democratic Party, which said on Twitter two of its parliamentary candidates were killed in the blasts.

In an emotional speech at the Ankara rally, HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas said that rather than plotting revenge, people should aim to end Erdogan’s rule, starting at the election.

In a cable sent to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Polish president Andrzej Duda offered his condolences over Saturday’s terrorist attacks which claimed the lives of 95 people in Ankara.

Other papers voiced public anger over the attack.

The Queen said she is “shocked and saddened” by the suspected suicide bombings which claimed at least 95 lives in the Turkish capital Ankara.

The two explosions occurred seconds apart outside the capital’s main train station as hundreds of opposition supporters and Kurdish activists gathered for the peace rally.

Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey on Saturday and Sunday, pressing their military campaign a day after the rebel group ordered its fighters to halt attacks on Turkish soil.

One reporter said that the scene of the blast was littered with ball bearings, indicating explosions that were meant to cause the maximum possible damage.

So far the government says that autopsies have identified at least two suicide bombers.

Reports said hundreds of people in Ankara rushed to hospitals to donate blood for the victims.

The outlawed PKK accused Ankara of collaborating with the jihadists and resumed attacks on the security forces after observing a two-year ceasefire. The attack came three weeks before the country goes to the polls on November 1.