Islamic State or Isis Prime Suspect in Turkey Bombing Even as Opposition Blame Government


10/12/2015



While the opponents vented anger at President Tayyip Erdogan at funerals, universities and courthouses, the Turkey's government said on Monday that Islamic State of Isis was the prime suspect in suicide bombings that killed at least 97 people in Ankara.
 
The Turkish government is of the opinion that the bombings on Saturday were aimed to disrupt and influence the outcome of November polls Erdogan hopes will restore the AK party he founded to an overall parliamentary majority. However government sources confirmed that there were no plans to postpone the elections.
 
"It was definitely a suicide bombing," Davutoglu said in an interview broadcast live on Turkey's NTV. "DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We're close to a name, which points to one group," said the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu.  
 
However the oppositions to Erdogan who has been in power for over 13 years now, claimed that he was responsible for the attack on a rally organized by pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups. They accused that the state intelligence failed and the government was trying to complicate the stirred up nationalist anti-Kurdish sentiment.
 
There were vehement denials from the government which is facing a growing Kurdish conflict at home and the spillover of war in Syria.
 
The fissures running that are running through the Turkish society is highlighted by the sheer range of possible perpetrators that have cropped up following the bombings including the Isis or the Islamic State and Marxist radicals to militant nationalists and Kurdish armed factions.
 
The funeral procession organized at a mosque in an Istanbul suburb was attended by hundreds of angry people chanting anti-government slogans as they marched on. The funeral was attended by Selahattin Demirtas, leader of the pro-Kurdish parliamentary opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which says it was the target of the bombings.
 
Denying the presence of riot police in their full gear, the crowd chanted "Thief, Murderer Erdogan" and waved HDP flags as they moved towards the mosque in the working class Umraniye neighborhood of Istanbul.
 
There were protests against the government following the bombings in several wuarters of Istanbul. While many wearing doctors' uniforms and carrying Turkish Medical Association banners took part in the march after gathering by the main train station in Ankara where the explosions happened, lawyers at an Istanbul courthouse chanted "Murderer Erdogan will give account" as colleagues applauded, footage circulated on social media showed.
 
While the HDP puts the death toll from the bombings at 128 the government claimed that 97 people were killed in the attack.
 
As hundreds had gathered for a march organized by pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups to protest over a growing conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the southeast on Saturday, the bombs exploded just seconds apart indicating a well thought out plan by the culprits.
 
There are allegations against the ruling government that it is trying to escalate violence to try to weaken the HDP before the November 1 polls which aims to regain an AK majority and pave the way for the more powerful presidential system Erdogan seeks.
 
"Our electorates feel under constant threat in every social space and political activity they attend," it said.
 
 (Source:www.reuters.com)