Turkey PM Says IS Prime Suspect over Worst Attack

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Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday said the Islamic State (IS) extremist group was the prime suspect in the double suicide bombings in Ankara that killed 97 and sparked anger over the authorities' failure to ensure security.

In his first interview since Turkey was scarred on Saturday by its deadliest ever attack, Davutoglu insisted that a snap election would go ahead as planned on November 1 despite the bloodshed.

The attack on a peace rally of leftist, labour and Kurdish activists ratcheted up tensions to new heights in Turkey as the government wages a relentless campaign against Kurdish militants and also battles IS jihadists.

"Looking at how the incident took place, we are probing Daesh as our first priority," Davutoglu told NTV television, using an alternative Arabic acronym for IS.

"We are close to a name (for one bomber). That name points to an organization," he said.

Davutoglu however remained cautious, saying that authorities were also investigating the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C) as "potential suspects".

But this has sparked an angry reaction from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), which strongly disputes the official death toll and has released the names of 120 victims, claiming eight more have yet to be identified.

Turkey was long accused by its NATO allies of not taking a tougher line against IS as the group seized swathes of northern Iraq and Syria and battled Kurdish militias.

However after months of Western pressure, Turkey is now a full member of the U.S.-led coalition against IS and allowing American jets to use its Incirlik air base for raids, making it possibly more vulnerable to attack.

With international concern growing over Turkey's stability, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to visit Sunday to discuss Turkey and Syria, a spokesman said.

Rallies in the wake of the bombings have been hugely critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with demonstrators chanting slogans like "Erdogan murderer" and accusing the government of failing to prevent the attacks.

"We lost many friends. But the government must know that we will not step back. We will continue to fight and will fight even harder," union activist Vassaf Turgut told AFP in Ankara.

But Davutoglu denied there had been any security or intelligence failure and dismissed fears Turkey could be facing civil war.

"This attack will not turn Turkey into Syria," he said.

In his first reaction to the violence, Turkey's leading writer Orhan Pamuk in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica warned of sectarian conflict and blamed Erdogan for the insecurity.

Erdogan, in a written statement, has condemned the "heinous" attacks as an attempt to break the country's unity.

However the Turkish strongman has remained uncharacteristically silent in public since the attacks. On Monday was holding closed door meetings with officials including with spy chief Hakan Fidan, army head Hulusi Akar and Davutoglu.

The attacks came with Erdogan under huge political pressure as Turkey heads into the November 1's snap election.

His ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to keep its overall majority in June 7 polls and then could not form any coalition.

Erdogan called a repeat election for November 1 but opinion polls are showing that that the result appears likely to be much the same as before.

Some commentators suggested that the Ankara attack could prompt the government to postpone the polls but Davutoglu insisted they would go ahead "under whatever circumstances".

AKP spokesman Omer Celik said that the party had canceled all campaign rallies until Friday and thereafter would hold "anti-terror" unity rallies.

Turkish media said investigators believe the type of bombs used in Ankara were similar to the one used in a July 20 suicide bombing in the town of Suruc on the Syrian border that killed 34 also mostly Kurdish and leftist activists. That attack was quickly blamed on IS.

The Hurriyet daily reported that the authorities had taken DNA samples from families of 16 people suspected of being members of the IS group.

They are also examining the theory that the missing elder brother of the Suruc suicide bomber Abdurrahman Alagoz could have carried out one of the suicide attacks, it added.

Turkish authorities have since Sunday arrested over 40 suspected members of IS across the country, but it is unclear if the raids had any link with the Ankara attacks.

The Suruc bombing caused one of the most serious flare-ups in Turkey in recent times as the PKK accused the government of collaborating with IS and resumed attacks on the security forces after a truce of more than two years.

The military hit back, launching a "war on terror" against the Kurdish militants.

The PKK on Saturday announced it would suspend all attacks -- except in self defense -- ahead of the polls.

But the Turkish army kept up its campaign with more air raids killing 17 suspected militants in the southeastern Hakkari region on Sunday, state media said.

Comments 17
Thumb _mowaten_ 12 October 2015, 14:40

not only does he support them, he controls them. the protest that was hit by suicide bombers was against erdoghan, against his wars, and included kurdish parties. he sent a couple of his blow-up dolls to punish them for daring to speak out

Thumb _mowaten_ 12 October 2015, 15:42

http://www.rtl.fr/actu/international/attentat-a-ankara-tous-les-indices-montrent-qu-il-y-a-une-implication-de-l-etat-selon-un-specialiste-7780049238

Missing CFTC 12 October 2015, 15:44

@mowaten E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T. Still laughing since the day you declared with a straight face you were a shiaa atheist and also a member of hezbollah with only one account. I think i will also continue to laugh at your statement " not only does he support them, he controls them". Thank you Thank you

Default-user-icon mowaten.fantoura (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:44

you call that a substantiated political opinion based on facts, mowaten?

Default-user-icon mowaten.darta (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:45

mowaten, do you have a life other than spamming naharnet?

Default-user-icon willypete (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:46

Mowaten is the modern day version of Joseph Goebbel.
if you don't know who I mean ..you should !
look it up

Default-user-icon citybooy (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:46

you know what is strange mowaten.... I was thinking the same thing exactly, the same!!!! The similarities between us are not just coincidences anymore. I mean we are both shiaa extremists who pretend to be secular and we both are members of the shia resistance, both paid to post, both are sectarian to the bone, both troll and make up accounts to insult people and then pretend we are against such practices.... I hope just because we are similar in all the above ways people don't think we are the same poster.

Default-user-icon Rima Al Khatib (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:46

i wonder what country are you mowtaten of.... certainly not Lebanon.

Default-user-icon Rita Nahhas (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:48

mwaten
Who pays you to post and for what exact purpose? I find you on every article spamming and spreading lies and propaganda! I demand answers and Now.

Default-user-icon judge (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:51

get me a proof mowaten that he supports them and i will stand corrected. so far, you follow feudal warlords and mafiosi who appoint lawyers to defend killers. you have zero credibility and cannot correctly judge who is clean and who is not because you judge with your emotions and what your parents fed your head with. there is still time to wake up to your sickness.

Thumb _mowaten_ 12 October 2015, 16:35

keep laughing troll

Default-user-icon najwah hamoud (Guest) 12 October 2015, 17:56

I read naharnet often and the only troll I can see is you _mowaten_. Your comments are laughable, mere propaganda filled with your sectarian hate, and have no basis in facts. Typical hypocrite hired shill

Thumb EagleDawn 12 October 2015, 18:46

when you have nothing to say, say nothing.

Default-user-icon mowaten's father (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:48

I disowned him a longtime ago. He was always a problem child. We tried our best to raise him up as a Lebanese but he always aspired to be Iranian. I recall when he was a baby…. his first words out of his mouth were not Mama or Baba or Ughha …… but Aya-tollah ! He would wake up in the middle of the night and ask his mother when the Ayatollah would come take him to Qom. In the end, we surrendered to God’s will and accepted things as they were. Child psychologists informed us he will grow up to be the most sectarian creature. Well, it seems they were right.

Default-user-icon Petra Laszlo (Guest) 12 October 2015, 15:52

mowaten
I thought i told you I'd ring you when I needed a doorknob's opinion, who let you out of your cage?

Default-user-icon mowaten (Guest) 12 October 2015, 16:30

Israel did it

Thumb -phoenix1 12 October 2015, 22:58

If Turkey is naming IS as the guilty party then Erdogan and his Islamic party of fanatics must be behind it all.