Kurdish wedding: 54 mostly children killer is unknown

[Anthea]

Turkey wedding blast: 30 dead and 90 hurt in Gaziantep

An explosion at an outdoor wedding party in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep has killed at least 30 people and injured 94 more, the region's governor says.

The Turkish government has called it a "terror attack" and suggested it was carried out by a suicide bomber.

Gaziantep, which is mainly Kurdish, is 64km (40 miles) from the Syrian border.

Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek called the attack "barbaric" but said: "God willing, we will overcome."

It happened in a part of the city where many university students live, after a wedding party spilled out on to the streets. The blast was heard across town.

No group has said it was behind the bombing - but government sources say it could have been carried out by so-called Islamic State, which is known to have operatives in the border city of Gaziantep.

Turkey has been hit by a series of bombs both by IS and Kurdish militants in the past year, with the last IS attack on Istanbul airport in June, killing more than 40 people.

The jihadists have recently lost ground in northern Syria, including a former stronghold, Manbij. Syrian rebel soldiers are preparing to advance further into the IS-held province of Jarablus.

If this bomb was the work of IS, there will be speculation it is a revenge attack, intended as a show of strength by a group on the defensive.

The BBC's Seref Isler, who is from Gaziantep, said the attack "took place in a city that is already on edge because of what's happening right across the border" but was even more shocking because a wedding party was targeted.

He said: "Weddings are in Turkey considered sacred and very happy occasions, so to intentionally turn it in to a bloodbath has received some very staunch criticism to say the least.

"Turkish society seems to have been horrified that this has targeted specifically a wedding, what should have been the happiest day of this couple's lives."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37146531

[Benny]

And at a wedding. With children there aswell. Horrible news.

[Londoner]

Turkey has a hand in it for sure.

[Benny]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSKCN10V0TG

At least 50 dead now.

[Anthea]

Turkey Gaziantep: Kurdish wedding massacre blamed on ISIS

So-called Islamic State is likely to have carried out a deadly bomb attack on a wedding in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

The death toll in the attack in the southern city of Gaziantep has now risen to 50, the local governor's office said, with almost 100 wounded.

A suspected suicide bomber targeted guests at a Kurdish wedding as they danced in the street.

Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several IS cells.

The BBC's Seref Isler, who is from Gaziantep, says the city of 1.5 million was already on edge because of events in Syria, where IS has been battling Syrian Kurdish forces.

In a written statement published by local media (in Turkish), Mr Erdogan argued there was "no difference" between ISIS, the Kurdish militants of the PKK, and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt last month.

"Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us - you will not succeed!" he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37147717

Mr Erdogan argued there was "no difference" between ISIS, the Kurdish militants of the PKK

Erdogan is piece of SHIT

Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several ISIS cells

If Gaziantep is known to contain ISIS cells the only way they could remain untouched is if Erdogan allows them freedom to remain

Now Kurds have to wait while the body parts of loved ones are collected up and sorted out

If ISIS has several known cells in Gaziantep are they likely to draw attention to themselves but holding such an attack in there area?

Highly unlikely me thinks

Ask yourselves would any such well known group just walk around the corner into the next road to plant a bomb?

BUT

Any reasonably well known local person would have no problem infiltrating a wedding party

Though

Would ISIS really want to provoke the Kurds even further?

I think Turkey is behind this horrendous attack Erdogan has NO scruples

[Anthea]

Kurdish wedding suicide bomber 'was child aged 12-14'

A suicide bombing which killed 51 people in the Turkish city of Gaziantep was carried out by a 12 to 14-year-old, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Mr Erdogan said the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) was behind the attack, which targeted a Kurdish wedding party. Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several ISIS cells.

The bomb wounded 69 people, Mr Erdogan added, 17 of them seriously.

The bomber targeted the wedding guests as they danced in the street.

The BBC's Seref Isler, who is from Gaziantep, says the city of 1.5 million was already on edge because of events in Syria, where IS has been battling Syrian Kurdish forces.

A suicide bomber believed to have links to ISIS who killed two policemen in Gaziantep in May.

Link to Full Article - Videos - Photos:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37147717

[Anthea]

KCK: AKP is responsible for Antep massacre

KCK offered its condolences to the families of the people martyred in Antep and stated that the AKP government was responsible for the massacre even if the perpetrators were ISIS members.

KCK Executive Council Co-Presidency issued a written statement on the massacre in Antep. KCK noted that tens of children, old people and youth were massacred and hundreds of people were injured during the bombing of a Kurdish wedding in Antep, and offered its condolences to the families of the massacred civilians.

‘AKP IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE’

KCK emphasized that no matter who carried out the massacre in Antep targeting Kurdish people, AKP was responsible. KCK stated that the AKP government has been supporting ISIS in Syria and turning a blind eye to ISIS mobilization in Antep in order to influence Syria and suffocate Rojava Revolution. KCK noted that the AKP’s policies not only transformed Syria into a bloodbath but also enabled ISIS to carry out massacres in Europe, Turkey and Kurdistan. KCK said that humanity has suffered a lot because of Turkey’s support for ISIS, and Turkish officials would be the first ones to be prosecuted if the supporters of ISIS get prosecuted one day. KCK added that Turkey would eventually pay for the massacres in the region despite its attempt to distance itself from ISIS.

‘AKP BOTH MARKETS ISIS AND USES IT AS A TOOL OF PROVOCATION’

KCK stated that the AKP both markets ISIS and uses it as a tool of provocation. The Co-Presidency recalled that Turkey has been trying to find an excuse for intervening in North Syria and Rojava Revolution, described the massacre in Antep as an ISIS massacre organized by the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MİT). KCK recalled that MİT president Hakan Fidan had said that they would have ‘missiles thrown from Syria to Turkey in order to create an excuse for Turkish occupation two years ago, and described the massacre in Antep as the Turkish state’s attempt to pressure international powers for the creation of a buffer zone in North Syria. KCK noted that Kurds were targeted in Antep just like the AKP government targets Kurdish people in Syria.

KCK Co-Presidency emphasized that the targets of ISIS in Turkey has not been the AKP government but Kurdish people, democracy forces and foreigners, and this illustrates the relations between the AKP and ISIS. KCK stated that the Turkish state has not abandoned its hostility towards Rojava Revolution despite its attempt to reverse its policies in Syria, and continues to attack Rojava Revolution because it does not have the will to solve the Kurdish issue within Turkey. Therefore, KCK underlined that Turkey’s approach to Rojava Revolution illustrates the AKP government’s approach to the Kurdish issue.

‘AKP CANNOT HIDE THE TRUTH WITH DEMAGOGY’

KCK emphasized the connection between Antep massacre and the AKP government’s hostility towards Rojava, and said that ISIS-affiliated gangs would continue to carry out similar massacres as long as the AKP government does not abandon its aforementioned hostility. KCK stated that pro-AKP media outlets would not fool anyone with their attempts to associate the PKK with ISIS and the followers of Fethullah Gülen, and the Turkish state has been the actor that had collaborated with Gülen’s followers and supported ISIS. KCK stated that the AKP government could not hide the truth with demagogy, and the AKP government would only survive if it abandons its enmity towards Rojava Revolution. KCK added that the Turkish state’s relations with criminal organizations and states that are enemies of Kurdish people would continue if the AKP government does not end its aforementioned enmity.

‘AKP MUST TAKE A STEP IN THE KURDISH ISSUE AND END ITS HOSTILITY TOWARDS ROJAVA’

KCK Executive Council Co-Presidency emphasized that enhancing the struggle for democracy and pressuring Turkey to end its enmity towards Rojava Revolution were among the most important duties of Kurdish people and democracy forces in Turkey, and called upon these groups to convince the AKP government to establish friendly relations with the Kurds and collaborate with them in the fight against ISIS. KCK underlined that the AKP government cannot deny its responsibility in Antep massacre, and called upon the state to end its hostility towards Kurds and Rojava Revolution, and take a step for the solution of the Kurdish issue. KCK warned that the Turkish state would lose its war against Kurdish people and danger the peoples of Turkey if continues its current dirty policies.

http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/kck-akp ... p-massacre

[Anthea]

Turkey suicide bomb victims 'mostly children'

Most of the victims of the bombing of a Kurdish wedding party in the Turkish city of Gaziantep on Saturday were children, media reports say.

Twenty-nine victims were under the age of 18, reports said, with one official saying 22 were under the age of 14. The death toll rose to 54 on Monday.

The suicide bomber himself was a child aged 12-14, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Mr Erdogan has blamed so-called Islamic State (IS) for the attack.

Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to contain several IS cells.

On Monday, Turkish officials were awaiting the results of DNA tests as they tried to identify the suicide attacker, the Hurriyet newspaper said.

It added that the type of bomb, which contained scraps of metal, was similar to those used in previous attacks on pro-Kurdish gatherings.

Kurdish fighters, backed by the US-led coalition, have been at the forefront of the fight against IS in Syria.

Prosecutors said a search was also under way for two people believed to have accompanied the suspected attacker to the wedding party but who left before the blast.

The death toll rose to 54 after three critically injured people died in hospital early on Monday. Thirteen of those killed were women, Turkish media said. Sixty-six people are still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition, Dogan news agency reported.

BBC Monitoring's Turkey analyst Pinar Sevinclidir says the wedding celebration targeted is known as "henna night", which involves participants painting their hands and feet and is traditionally attended mainly by women and children.

There were emotional scenes as dozens of funerals for victims took place on Sunday. Some distraught relatives threw themselves onto the coffins, correspondents said.

The explosion happened as wedding guests danced in the street on Saturday evening in a predominantly Kurdish district of Gaziantep.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said the wedding had been for one of its members.

The bride and bridegroom, from the mainly Kurdish region of Siirt in the south-east, survived the blast but were among the injured. Their condition was not believed to be serious.

Witness Veli Can, 25, said that the celebrations were coming to an end when the explosion ripped through a crowd of people dancing.

"There was blood and body parts everywhere," he said.

Mr Erdogan said IS had been trying to "position itself" in Gaziantep, which has become a major hub for Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war.

In a written statement, he said there was "no difference" between IS, the Kurdish militants of the PKK, and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt last month.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37154294

[Anthea]

Turkey Kurdish wedding bomber 'may not have been child'

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says authorities do not know if a suicide bomber who attacked a Kurdish wedding killing 54 people was a child.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after Saturday's attack in Gazantiep that the bomber was 12-14 years old.

Turkey has linked the bomber to so-called Islamic State (IS), but Mr Yildirim said "a clue has not yet been found concerning the perpetrator".

His statement came as Turkey's military targeted IS militants in Syria.

Television reports said howitzers had been used against IS near the border town of Jarablus.

Turkish artillery had also hit US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG positions north of Manbij in Syria, broadcaster NTV said.

A coalition including YPG has been pushing IS out of Syrian towns, including Manbij, recently.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s.

'Guess'

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday, Mr Yildirim said the earlier statement identifying the attacker as a child was a "guess" based on witness accounts.

Most of the victims were children, media reports say.

Twenty-nine victims of the attack, which took place on Sunday, were under the age of 18, reports said, with one official saying 22 were under the age of 14.

Thirteen of those killed were women, Turkish media said. Sixty-six people are still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition, Dogan news agency reported.

One woman lost four children in the attack, the Haberturk newspaper reported. Emine Arhan told the title "if it wasn't for my only surviving child, I would have killed myself".

Another victim was a nine-year-old girl who had stayed on at the party to see the bride after her parents had left, according to the Vatan newspaper.

A disproportionately large number of women and children were killed in the attack because it targeted henna night, a part of the celebration attended mainly by women and children, says BBC Monitoring's Turkey analyst Pinar Sevinclidir.

Hurriyet newspaper said the type of bomb, which contained scraps of metal, was similar to those used in previous attacks on pro-Kurdish gatherings.

Prosecutors said a search was also under way for two people believed to have accompanied the suspected attacker to the wedding party but who left before the blast.

Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to contain several IS cells.

In a defiant speech on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said IS should be "completely cleansed" from the border area with Turkey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37158615

[Anthea]

Has anyone found out who the bomber was?

Given that many or the victims were torn apart by the blast - it would have taken them some days to reconstruct bodies - by now they must know which body carried the explosives

Was it a TURK?