|
www.aljazeera.com
Ankara peace rally rocked by deadly explosions Twin blasts in the centre of the Turkish capital kill at least 86 and injure nearly 200 more, government says. 10 Oct 2015 17:29 GMT | War & Conflict, Middle East, Turkey
Two explosions at a road junction in the centre of the Turkish capital Ankara have killed at least 86 people and injured nearly 200 others, the country's health minister said.
The first blast occurred at around 10:00am (0700 GMT), with the second following shortly after, during a peace rally organised by several leftist groups, including the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Authorities are exploring the possibility that the blasts may have been caused by two suicide bombers.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced three days of national mourning during a televised press conference on Saturday afternoon.
"We have to stand together against terrorism to defend our country," Davutoglu said, adding that the target of the attack was Turkish unity, democracy and stability.
"We are confident that there is no single citizen who doesn't share the deep sorrow for those who have lost their loved ones in these attacks."
No groups have claimed responsibility for the explosions.
A video on social media showed the moment of one explosion: young people were dancing and waving banners as a massive fireball erupts.
The explosions occurred near a train station where people were gathering for a peace march to protest against the conflict between the state and Kurdish fighters in southeast Turkey.
At a press conference in Ankara on Saturday afternoon, the Turkish health minister said that the death toll from the blasts had risen from 30 to 86, with 186 injured, including 28 who are in intensive care.
Video footage on social media showed several bodies lying on the ground, as survivors tried to attend to the wounded.
Faruk Bildirici, a Turkish journalist who was attending the rally, told Al Jazeera that he was only metres away from the blasts and there were only seconds between the two attacks.
People react on the multiple explosions that killed many demonstrators in Ankara [EPA] "Some people were crying and shouting out condemning the attack, some - particularly members of the Turkish Medical Association - were trying to help the wounded." he said.
"I have seen people using banners trying to cover dead bodies and striving to carry the wounded, again with large banners. There were no ambulances or police at the scene.
"This gathering was to deliver a message of peace, democracy and brotherhood in Turkey. This attack prevented people from delivering this message."
'Barbaric attack'
Demonstrators angered by the attack on their fellow activists shouted "police murderers!" at the scene of the blasts but were then dispersed as the security forces intervened.
"We are faced with a huge massacre. A barbaric attack has been committed," said the HDP's leader Selahattin Demirtas.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly denounced the attack.
"I strongly condemn this heinous attack on our unity and our country's peace," Erdogan said in a statement posted on the presidency's website.
"No matter what its origin, aim or name, we are against any form of terrorist act or terrorist organisation. We are obliged to be against it together," Erdogan said.
Demonstrators confront riot police following the deadly explosions [Reuters] The attack came with Turkey on edge ahead of November 1 polls and a wave of unrest over the past few months.
An attack in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc on July 20 targeting pro-HDP activists and blamed on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters killed 32 people and wounded 100 others.
The armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) accused Ankara of collaborating with ISIL and resumed attacks on the Turkish security forces after observing a two-year ceasefire.
Over 140 members of the security forces have since been killed while Ankara claims to have killed over 1,700 Kurdish fighters in weeks of bombardments of PKK targets in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
PKK ceasefire
Hours after the blasts in Ankara, the PKK called for a unilateral ceasefire in its fight against the Turkish state "unless they or the Kurdish people are attacked", according to a statement carried by Kurdish news agencies.
The statement was released by the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) and did not reference Saturday's attack in Ankara.
The move was widely expected as analysts said the PKK hoped it would boost the HDP's score in the upcoming election.
I woke up to my friends asking my Turkish housemate, who went back home to visit family, if he was okay. Thankfully, he's fine, but I can't say the same for those who attended the peace rally...I hope everyone comes out of this alright.
|
This world is being held hostage by violence, and I am so sick and disgusted with it.
What a disgusting tragedy. My brother had spent a brief time in Turkey, and loved the people he met there. Huge condolences to all good Turks.
|
So sad news indeed. We lost friends and innocent young people. Rest in Peace
|
Condolences ... surprised to see how little people are posting... Guess that speaks volumes...
|
because of the holiday i figured this was a joke thread relating to the animal
it aint :|
|
Grave news. This whole nonsensical conflict between Turks and Kurds has to stop. They need to unite against the greater threat.
|
Let me explain what happened as heard from people who were there when the bombings happened:
1- Basically there was no police control points, in fact: police wasn't there at all. This is uncharacteristic of Turkish police, as they generally interfere any type of groups as long as the size of the group is bigger than or equal to 10. Don't even ask the amount of security when the rightist people rally for anything, such as military coup in Egypt or when Assad does anything in Syria. 2- Peace rally was going all fine and dandy, then bombings happen, then police comes in, forms a circle right outside of the rally goers to keep the ambulances and other people who want to do good things outside that circle and all the dead and injured inside the circle, people react to that and police's response to the reactions was (just like in any other similar event) to gas the people who react. 3- The place is within a kilometer of reach to not one but two army facilities, central bank of Turkey, a few more important government buildings that i don't remember now and the HQ of Turkish Intelligence Agency. Generally, if you breathe a bit too heavily in that area, the police comes in and interrogates you. 4- When an event like this happens in Turkey, ambulances tend to put oxygen masks on dead people and bring them to the hospital in order to reduce the number of the dead people (well, these dead people who we brought into the hospital are now among not the people who died in the bombing but among the people who died in the hospital despite the best efforts of doctors, hell yeah Turkish government). This also happened yesterday. People were trying to make the ambulances carry injured people to the hospitals and this also caused some police reaction, in the form of gas canisters obviously. 5- Ministry organizes a press conference, one journalist asks the minister of internal affairs if he's thinking about resigning or not. Minister of justice can't even keep his laughs to the question. Minister of internal affairs responds with the phrase "there is nothing that's remotely related to a security breach" (the place is still within a kilometer of reach to two army facilities, Turkish Central Bank and HQ of Turkish Intelligence Agency, where does the bombing need to happen so that you can call it a security breach). 6- The internet slowed down to shit. Facebook, twitter and instagram became unreachable from time to time. 7- The Turkish press is prohibited to make any news of yesterday's events.
I don't know what these things mean to you, but it probably means pattern to the people who were at the rally yesterday and lived to tell the tale.
EDIT: Also, hospitals in that area are in need of blood but there is no way for you to go and donate because the police closed down that area lol.
|
+ Show Spoiler +On October 11 2015 15:54 Djagulingu wrote: Let me explain what happened as heard from people who were there when the bombings happened:
1- Basically there was no police control points, in fact: police wasn't there at all. This is uncharacteristic of Turkish police, as they generally interfere any type of groups as long as the size of the group is bigger than or equal to 10. Don't even ask the amount of security when the rightist people rally for anything, such as military coup in Egypt or when Assad does anything in Syria. 2- Peace rally was going all fine and dandy, then bombings happen, then police comes in, forms a circle right outside of the rally goers to keep the ambulances and other people who want to do good things outside that circle and all the dead and injured inside the circle, people react to that and police's response to the reactions was (just like in any other similar event) to gas the people who react. 3- The place is within a kilometer of reach to not one but two army facilities, central bank of Turkey, a few more important government buildings that i don't remember now and the HQ of Turkish Intelligence Agency. Generally, if you breathe a bit too heavily in that area, the police comes in and interrogates you. 4- When an event like this happens in Turkey, ambulances tend to put oxygen masks on dead people and bring them to the hospital in order to reduce the number of the dead people (well, these dead people who we brought into the hospital are now among not the people who died in the bombing but among the people who died in the hospital despite the best efforts of doctors, hell yeah Turkish government). This also happened yesterday. People were trying to make the ambulances carry injured people to the hospitals and this also caused some police reaction, in the form of gas canisters obviously. 5- Ministry organizes a press conference, one journalist asks the minister of internal affairs if he's thinking about resigning or not. Minister of justice can't even keep his laughs to the question. Minister of internal affairs responds with the phrase "there is nothing that's remotely related to a security breach" (the place is still within a kilometer of reach to two army facilities, Turkish Central Bank and HQ of Turkish Intelligence Agency, where does the bombing need to happen so that you can call it a security breach). 6- The internet slowed down to shit. Facebook, twitter and instagram became unreachable from time to time. 7- The Turkish press is prohibited to make any news of yesterday's events.
I don't know what these things mean to you, but it probably means pattern to the people who were at the rally yesterday and lived to tell the tale.
EDIT: Also, hospitals in that area are in need of blood but there is no way for you to go and donate because the police closed down that area lol. That's awful.
|
In this article www.theguardian.com I found an interesting quote that really raised my eyebrows:
Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the HDP party, said: “This attack is not targeting our state and national unity, it is perpetrated by the state against the people ..." Demirtas added that he did not expect that those responsible for the bombings would be brought to justice.
Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now?
|
Well Turkey bombs itself because of "HDP-State banter" actually. What Demirtas means by people exactly in that speech is actually not whole population but kurdish community so far treated as second class citizens.
The whole problem we are having is: Kurds even after accomplishing (passing the election threshold in last elections) what they are trying to achieve for so many years, getting the chance of finally representing themselves in parliament under a kurdish party, still HDP did not show the real effort of breaking the deep connection between them and the PKK. Still if you ask anyone in Turkey about HDP, the first thing comes to their mind will be they are still affiliated with PKK. So they are playing right into AKPs hand by letting them manipulate everybody in a way showing HDP equals PKK even tough there is a very high chance they have nothing to do with any of the 2 bombings (1st in Suruc before last election) given the circumstances the bombing place especially in Ankara as mentioned above is supposed to be somewhat one of the most secure areas.
Many coincidences happening at the same time, being no police control, media censorship, lack of official information from government etc. makes any person able of judgement think this is planned by the government after all you have more sources as state and why not deny the incident with proof if you really have nothing to with it but hey this is Turkey, tell people you are a devoted muslim and many people will believe you over leftists or nationalists or any other group no matter how big your lie is. Honestly we deserve much worse...
|
My condolences to anyone affected by this.
|
United States22883 Posts
On October 11 2015 21:51 rasco wrote: Well Turkey bombs itself because of "HDP-State banter" actually. What Demirtas means by people exactly in that speech is actually not whole population but kurdish community so far treated as second class citizens.
The whole problem we are having is: Kurds even after accomplishing (passing the election threshold in last elections) what they are trying to achieve for so many years, getting the chance of finally representing themselves in parliament under a kurdish party, still HDP did not show the real effort of breaking the deep connection between them and the PKK. Still if you ask anyone in Turkey about HDP, the first thing comes to their mind will be they are still affiliated with PKK. So they are playing right into AKPs hand by letting them manipulate everybody in a way showing HDP equals PKK even tough there is a very high chance they have nothing to do with any of the 2 bombings (1st in Suruc before last election) given the circumstances the bombing place especially in Ankara as mentioned above is supposed to be somewhat one of the most secure areas.
Many coincidences happening at the same time, being no police control, media censorship, lack of official information from government etc. makes any person able of judgement think this is planned by the government after all you have more sources as state and why not deny the incident with proof if you really have nothing to with it but hey this is Turkey, tell people you are a devoted muslim and many people will believe you over leftists or nationalists or any other group no matter how big your lie is. Honestly we deserve much worse... There's also a rich history of Turkish authorities (usually the police) attempting to infiltrate groups/movements, with the intent of sparking a backlash against them. Certainly not to this degree, but the AKP has been very subversive in the past. Beyond that, I think Turks also buy into conspiracy theories relatively easily, sometimes rightly so given my first statement.
It seems unlikely the government was behind this, but it certainly created the climate for something like this to happen. And it wouldn't surprise me if no one is brought to justice over it.
|
On October 11 2015 18:44 opisska wrote:In this article www.theguardian.com I found an interesting quote that really raised my eyebrows: Show nested quote +Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the HDP party, said: “This attack is not targeting our state and national unity, it is perpetrated by the state against the people ..." Demirtas added that he did not expect that those responsible for the bombings would be brought to justice.
Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now? I dont see how that makes any sense at all and there is also zero proof or even hints for any of it.
Kurdish / leftists are accusing the government while government / nationalists are accusing Kurds. Simply because both sides have so much hate and distrust for each other. In the end it was probably the same as usual (islamist terrorists / ISIS fan boys) that are now happy to see Kurds and Turks fight each other.
|
For those who don't know the issue, it is not directly Kurds-Turks , rather state vs. people since the crowd is not particularly Kurdish. The organization basically supported highly by Kurds but can be distinguished from armed Kurds(PKK etc..).
Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now?
Turkey bombs itself unfortunately. It is simply an intended overlook at its best if you don't want to believe directly controlled by Government(state actually). We have 3 weeks for the next re-election, a side information.
|
On October 12 2015 04:02 Laserist wrote:For those who don't know the issue, it is not directly Kurds-Turks , rather state vs. people since the crowd is not particularly Kurdish. The organization basically supported highly by Kurds but can be distinguished from armed Kurds(PKK etc..). Show nested quote + Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now? Turkey bombs itself unfortunately. It is simply an intended overlook at its best if you don't want to believe directly controlled by Government(state actually). We have 3 weeks for the next re-election, a side information. And how would this help the government with the election? Erdogan can be Hitler for all I care, this still makes zero sense. ISIS fans bombing this just to stir up trouble and sow terror makes sense though. And this is their usual method.
|
On October 11 2015 18:44 opisska wrote:In this article www.theguardian.com I found an interesting quote that really raised my eyebrows: Show nested quote +Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the HDP party, said: “This attack is not targeting our state and national unity, it is perpetrated by the state against the people ..." Demirtas added that he did not expect that those responsible for the bombings would be brought to justice.
Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now? You could probably find some videos where Erdogan claims "If AKP had 400 delegues in the senate this wouldn't happen" after the previous bombing. I don't know how more V for Vendetta does this get.
|
On October 12 2015 04:18 Redox wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2015 04:02 Laserist wrote:For those who don't know the issue, it is not directly Kurds-Turks , rather state vs. people since the crowd is not particularly Kurdish. The organization basically supported highly by Kurds but can be distinguished from armed Kurds(PKK etc..). Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now? Turkey bombs itself unfortunately. It is simply an intended overlook at its best if you don't want to believe directly controlled by Government(state actually). We have 3 weeks for the next re-election, a side information. And how would this help the government with the election? Erdogan can be Hitler for all I care, this still makes zero sense. ISIS fans bombing this just to stir up trouble and sow terror makes sense though. And this is their usual method.
The thing is, mass media 24/7 broadcasting and accusing PKK for this even though they somewhat denied that. Crowds can be really stupid sometimes and more than enough people believes Kurds did this for whatever reason they wanna believe.
I don't like PKK even one bit but everything point out that government knew and encouraged it from the start. This space is not enough to tell everything nor I have any ambition to do but it is very obvious to me.
|
Ahh fuck....this is terrible. My condolences, god bless all the people who passed and there loved ones, the world is crazy / on fire.
|
He lost the majority and needs more votes to form the government as a ruling party alone and since he lost all those kurdish mps after last election, now he is pushing for nationalist votes or some potential minority prefering stability over any idealogy. Blaming an incident as serious enough as this bombing is considered viable for government since they had a few months for reelection.
|
On October 12 2015 04:36 Laserist wrote:Show nested quote +On October 12 2015 04:18 Redox wrote:On October 12 2015 04:02 Laserist wrote:For those who don't know the issue, it is not directly Kurds-Turks , rather state vs. people since the crowd is not particularly Kurdish. The organization basically supported highly by Kurds but can be distinguished from armed Kurds(PKK etc..). Is that just normal HDP-Erdogan banter, or is it really possible that Turkey bombs itself now? Turkey bombs itself unfortunately. It is simply an intended overlook at its best if you don't want to believe directly controlled by Government(state actually). We have 3 weeks for the next re-election, a side information. And how would this help the government with the election? Erdogan can be Hitler for all I care, this still makes zero sense. ISIS fans bombing this just to stir up trouble and sow terror makes sense though. And this is their usual method. The thing is, mass media 24/7 broadcasting and accusing PKK for this even though they somewhat denied that. Crowds can be really stupid sometimes and more than enough people believes Kurds did this for whatever reason they wanna believe. I don't like PKK even one bit but everything point out that government knew and encouraged it from the start. This space is not enough to tell everything nor I have any ambition to do but it is very obvious to me. Yeah those people who simply believe PKK did it without any proof are just as stupid as those who believe the same for the government. Dont you see that you are doing the exact same thing as the government supporters by simply blaming someone without knowing anything?
|
|
|
|