Funerals were held Tuesday for victims of a blast that ripped through a rally in the Turkish border town of Suruc a
day earlier -- an attack suspected to have been carried out by an ISIS suicide
bomber.
At least 31
people were killed in the explosion -- one of the deadliest terrorist attacks
to rock the country in years. At least 100 others were wounded, provincial Gov.
Izzettin Kucuk told Turkish media.
Crowds of mourners
wept and chanted beside flag-draped coffins as the funerals got underway.
Suruc lies about
6 miles from the Syrian border opposite Kobani, the Syrian city that was the
scene of intense fighting last fall between ISIS and predominantly Kurdish forces,
backed by coalition airstrikes.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference
Tuesday that "one suspect has been identified" and that all that
person's "links domestically and internationally are being
investigated."
"Right now
links to ISIS and it being a suicide bomber have gained probability," he
said. "We expect the investigation to be completed as soon as
possible."
Davutoglu on
Monday described ISIS as "not just a threat to Syria but to Turkey as
well."
He urged
solidarity among the Turkish people, saying the attack was not against any one
part of the country but "against all of us."
Davutoglu said
the government would not hesitate in taking action in response to the bombing,
which he suggested was in revenge for the role Turkey is playing in the war on
terror.
There was no
immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which struck a gathering of
mostly Kurdish activists calling for more help to rebuild Kobani.
Police
fire tear gas at Istanbul rally
Late Monday, police fired tear gas and
water cannons to disperse several hundred demonstrators gathered in Istanbul,
Turkey's largest city, to show support for the victims of the blast.
The explosion
occurred at midday at the Amara Cultural Park in Suruc, where an activist group
had gathered.
Photos and video from the scene show bodies strewn around a park
and dazed people at the blast site while emergency teams rush to aid victims.
"Kids were
screaming, everyone was screaming and running," eyewitness Erhan Subasi
told CNN. "Everyone was in a panic but trying to help.
"People's
faces were blown off, arms scattered. ... You could smell burned bodies."
The mood in the
town was somber as investigative and forensics teams worked into the night,
blood still staining the ground.
On Tuesday, toys
appeared at the scene of the bombing, placed in a symbolic reference to the
playthings that some of those targeted had been sending into devastated Kobani.
The Kurdish and Syrian rebel forces eventually succeeded in
driving ISIS out of the strategic stronghold, but the Syrian town was left in
ruins.
President urges 'global effort' against terrorism
It's not the first time the violence in
Syria has spilled over into Turkey. But the scale of this attack against Kurds
on Turkish soil will doubtless raise fresh questions over how the government is
handling the ISIS threat.
A Turkish
official speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN on Monday that the
government thinks the attack is "retaliation to the Turkish government's
fight against terrorism."
The official
called for the international anti-ISIS coalition to "more actively pursue
a solution to the crisis in Syria."
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack.
"Terror
doesn't have a nation, race or homeland," he said. "That is why we
have been consistent in underlining the need for a global effort to fight
terror."
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