Davutoğlu Blames ISIS for Deadly Ankara Explosions

Two days after the deadly explosions in Ankara, the Turkish Prime Minister on Monday, in his first television interview following the incident, announced to NTV that there is evidence linking the bombings to the Islamic State group, or ISIS. Last Saturday, while thousands were preparing to participate in a peace and freedom rally in Ankara, two bombs exploded near the main train station in the city, leaving around one hundred dead and over five hundred injured. According to the Turkish Prime Minister, given the nature of the bombings, Turkish security forces have focused their investigations on ISIS as the main suspect and even have the name of one of the bombing suspects. At the same time, Ahmet Davutoğlu emphasized that this bombing could also be the work of Kurdish rebels or leftist extremist groups. According to media reports, Turkish security officials are confident that the type of bombing, the explosives used, and the bomb triggers resemble a bomb that exploded on July 20 in the city of Suruç, which killed 34 people. At that time, Turkish security agencies also identified ISIS as the perpetrator of the bombing and even named two brothers as the main suspects, although the investigations into the Suruç bombing ultimately led nowhere. The Turkish police announced that by last Sunday, they had arrested 43 individuals on suspicion of connections to the Islamic State and possible involvement in the Ankara bombings. On the other hand, according to Agence France-Presse, Orhan Pamuk, the renowned Turkish writer and Nobel laureate, in his first reaction to the Ankara bombings, warned about sectarian conflicts in Turkey and held Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responsible for insecurity in the country. The Peoples' Democratic Party, which is the Kurdish minority party in Turkey, however, reported the death toll to be around 120. In response to these bombings, large cities in Turkey and some cities in Europe have witnessed marches and protests since last Saturday.