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Suspect identified in Turkish border town bombing Suspect identified in Turkish border town bombing
(34 minutes later)
Turkish authorities have identified a suspect in the apparent suicide bombing that killed 32 people in the town of Suruç near the Syrian border on Monday. Turkish authorities have identified a suspect in the apparent suicide bombing that killed 32 people in Suruç near the Syrian border, the prime minister has said.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the suspect’s links are being investigated. “One suspect has been identified. All the [suspect’s] links internationally and domestically are being investigated,” Ahmet Davutoğlu said on television. “We expect this investigation to be concluded as soon as possible.”
He told a news conference in Sanliurfa province, where Suruç is located, that the cabinet of ministers would assess potential additional security measures at the border at a meeting on Wednesday. He said there was a “high probability” that Monday’s attack was caused by a suicide bomber with connections to Islamic State militants.
On Monday Davutoğlu said that preliminary findings pointed to Islamic State having carried out the “clearly terrorist” attack. The death toll rose from 31 to 32 on Tuesday, with 29 of the injured still in hospital.
The blast hit a cultural centre in the small town, where young people from the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations had been gathering for a press conference before a planned visit to the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Kobani to assist with its reconstruction. “What’s necessary will be done against whomever is responsible for [the attack],” Davutoğlu said. “Nobody should ever doubt this. This is an attack that targeted Turkey.”
A cabinet meeting on Wednesday will consider extra security measures on the Syrian border.
The blast hit a cultural centre in the small town, where members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations had gathered for a press conference before a visit to the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Kobani to help with its reconstruction.
Photographs circulated on social media showed bodies strewn in the garden of the cultural centre. The youth organisation published a photograph just before the blast showing its members gathered at a table in the garden.Photographs circulated on social media showed bodies strewn in the garden of the cultural centre. The youth organisation published a photograph just before the blast showing its members gathered at a table in the garden.
Suruç lies across the border from Kobani – the town that witnessed the defeat of Isis militants at the hands of Kurdish fighters last year. Suruç is across the border from Kobani, the town that witnessed the defeat of Isis militants at the hands of Kurdish fighters last year.
Monday’s bombing was the bloodiest such attack on Turkish soil since twin bombs killed at least 50 people in the border town of Reyhanlı in 2013. Turkish Kurds have long been angry at what they perceive as Turkey’s inaction against Isis activities inside the country and on Turkey’s borders, with many believing that Ankara directly supports the Islamist militants against Kurdish fighters.
Davutoğlu vehemently denied suggestions that Turkey and the ruling Justice and Development party had encouraged Isis.
“Turkey and AK party governments have never had any direct or indirect connection with any terrorist organisation and never tolerated any terrorist group,” he said.
Monday’s bombing was the deadliest such attack on Turkish soil since twin bombs killed at least 50 people in the border town of Reyhanlı in 2013.