Turkey: Concrete Evidence ISIS Involved in Weekend Bombings

Denies Claims of Insufficient Security at Peace Rally

Turkish officials today say that they have “concrete evidence” that the weekend bombing against a peace rally in the capital city of Ankara was carried out by attackers linked to ISIS, and were from the same faction involved in the July bombing in Surac.

The Surac bombing killed 31 people, and targeted a group organizing aid for the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani. The Saturday strike targeted a peace rally organized by the pro-Kurdish HDP party, and killed at least 128 people.

Thousands of mourners took to the streets of Ankara after the Saturday bombings, and HDP officials accused the Turkish government of being involved, saying they have been targeted in the past in the lead-up to national elections.

Turkish officials are denying that, and also denying accusations of insufficient security at the Ankara rally, saying they had some 2,000 personnel deployed at the protest to try to prevent attacks. They failed, but they insist they made a serious effort.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.