At least 30 dead in suspected ISIL suicide bombing in Turkey's border with Syria
An explosion has killed at least 30 in a municipal culture center in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa’s Suruç district, as scores of people have been hospitalized.
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We are concerned that the number of death will increase. The perpetrators will soon be found and put on trial," Turkey's interior minister said in a statement on July 20.
Şanlıurfa Governor İzzettin Küçük has said the death toll has risen to 28, while around 100 people are injured.
The death toll rose to 30 at 5 p.m. when one of the heavily injured victims died in hospital.
There is speculation that the blast was caused by a 18-year-old female suicide bomber from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
At least 300 members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) were staying at the Amara Culture Center as part of a summer expedition to help rebuild Kobane, which lies directly across the border from Suruç.
The culture center, which is run by the Suruç Municipality under the control of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), frequently hosts visiting journalists and volunteers who work with refugees from Kobane, which had been repeatedly attacked by ISIL in the past months.
Upon his arrival in Nicosia for an official visit, President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called authorities, including Şanlıurfa Gov. İzzettin Küçük, in order to get further information concerning the attack, sources from the presidential office told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The Health Ministry has dispatched 33 land ambulances, each with three paramedic staff on board and a helicopter ambulance.
According to a statement by the ministry, there is no blood stock shortage, while intensive care units at nearby provinces have been instructed to remain on alert.
Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan was the first senior government official to make a public statement concerning the attack, harshly condemning it in messages posted to his Twitter account.
“These terrorist attacks aimed at Turkey, our nation’s unity and integrity and serenity and peace will not achieve their goal in any way,” Akdoğan said, vowing that “the state, the government and the nation” will foil the attacks.
“No terrorist attack can bring Turkey down and hit our unity and integrity. We will foil this dirty plot with common sense,” he said.
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu joined the condemnations of the deadly attack via his Twitter account.
“The treacherous attack in Suruç has burned our hearts. The grief of losing our young children is unspeakable. I condemn terror and those who support it,” said Kılıçdaroğlu.
In addition to the members of the Cabinet, a technical delegation by the Interior Ministry and a delegation from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) also left for the region.
Meanwhile, a crisis desk chaired by Prime Ministry Undersecretary Kemal Madenoğlu has been regularly briefing Davutoğlu, said news reports.
Kadir Ergün, an eyewitness, told CNNTürk that he was 100 meters away from the explosion. "It is hard to describe it with words. Blood donations are urgently needed. The people of Suruç are now called to donate blood," he added.
İsmail Kaplan, the HDP's deputy head in Suruç district, told journalists that a simultaneous suicide bombing hit the town center of Kobane, too. Speaking to daily Hürriyet, security sources in Ankara have confirmed this claim.
"If it is Daesh [ISIL], it will not stay in Suruç. Very soon we could end up like Syria," said Muhsin Kızılkaya, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The hashtag #SuruçtaKatliamVar (There is a massacre in Suruç) entered the worldwide trending topics list on Twitter soon after the explosion.
"It's a big massacre. The probability of a suicide bomber is very high," HDP deputy Leyla Güven told Habertürk. "Suspect information has been provided related to the number of deaths. Some say that everyone in the group died."
At least 30 dead in suspected ISIL suicide bombing in Turkey's border with Syria - LOCAL
