News & Comment
Ankara Attacks are the Continuation of the Suruç Attacks

News

Two explosions occurred seconds apart at the capital city Ankara's main train station where HDP, the Turkey's public workers' union and other left groups gathered for a peace rally under the title "Labour, Peace, Democracy", at 10.00 a.m. on the 10th of October 2015. 97 people lost their lives due to these attacks and more than 100 people were injured. (Agencies)

Comment

The following issues regarding these attacks can be expressed:

1. The attacks in Ankara have the same characteristics of the attacks in Suruç from the 20th of July. The groups who gathered in Suruç claimed they were going to Kobane. Similarly the groups in Ankara planned a leftist peace-democracy rally.

2. The suicide bomber, the type of explosive, weakness in intelligence and Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmuş's statement that "the bombing in Ankara shows similarity with the bombing in Suruç", indicate that the two attacks bear the same characteristics.

3. Also the two detained persons who are the owners of the twitter account "@DrBereday" and who shared a tweet stating, "The bomb will explode in Ankara!" 9 hours prior to the bomb attack in Ankara, turned out to be members of the PKK. Additionally, one of the PKK's leaders in Kandil, Mustafa Karasu, wrote under the pseudonym "Hüseyin Ali" in the PKK's publication in Europe "New Freedom Politics" newspaper, that the information of the bombing in Ankara received the Kurdish politicians already a week beforehand.

4. After the attacks, Prime Minister Davutoğlu and CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu had a meeting. The other parties did not accept the requests for meetings. Just like after the Suruç attacks, there were not made any clear statements in the aftermath of these attacks. While immediately after the attacks some accused "ISIL", others claimed that the PKK or DHKP-C would be behind this attack. And Prime Minister Davutoğlu's statements like "both ISIL and the PKK may have played an active role" and "We have a list of suicide bombers. But we aren't allowed to arrest them before they take action" prove that there is a created perception regarding this issue.

5. Although the public opinion and the authorities thrusted ISIL to the forefront, this possibility is weak, as ISIL did not take the blame for the Suruç bombings and the killing of a soldier at the border, nor did it so for any other attack. Until now, there has not been undertaken any active intervention, even though there were some threats in the name of ISIL. In contrary, ISIL released Turkish citizens whom it captured in Iraq and Syria. Even if the lifting of the coalition airplanes from the Incirlik base put the relations on alert recently; there is a slim chance that ISIL would intervene in Turkey. However, the public is deceived by this way, some Muslims are arrested and intervention in Syria and Iraq is justified.

6. The PKK who declared armed struggle prior to the Suruç attacks preparedly initiated actions immediately after the attacks and murdered many innocent people. The unilaterally declared ceasefire by the PKK prior to the Ankara attacks, however its continuation of attacks in addition to the news in the media regarding its awareness of the attacks, show with high probability that the perpetrator was one of the pro-British organizations like PKK and DHKP-C. Such attacks are the plans of those who seek to prevent the AKP of coming to power alone through an increase of Kurdish-Turkish nationalist votes in the country's environment of turmoil. However, that the audience of a national soccer match held shortly after the last attack protested against a moment of silence for the victims of the attack, shows that people regard this attack as an attempt to prevent the AKP. It is very likely that up to the elections there will be more such attacks. However a mutual agreement on holding the elections would also continue the "resolution process" after the elections.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
Musa Bayoğlu