ON SATURDAY morning thousands of pro-peace demonstrators began gathering in Ankara, Turkey's capital, to call for end to the cycle of violence that has engulfed the country since late July. As the demonstrators were disembarking in front of the city's main train station, two explosions tore through the crowd. By mid-afternoon the toll of casualties stood at 86 killed and 186 injured, according to Turkey's health minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu. A parliamentary candidate for the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) was among the dead. It was the worst terror attack in Turkish history. With the government ramping up a military campaign against Kurdish separatists and parliamentary elections drawing near, the country risks descending into a bloodbath.
No one has yet claimed responsibility. But the attack bears a strong similarity to the bombing, attributed to an Islamist militant, which caused the death of 33 young activists in the town of Suruç near the Syrian border on July 20th. That attack led rapidly to the collapse of the fragile two-year peace process between the Turkish authorities and the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): the PKK responded by attacking...Continue reading
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