Suruc bombing suspect identified
July 21, 2015
"All the [suspect's] links internationally and domestically are being investigated," Davutoglu said in televised comments, adding there was a high probability the attack was caused by a suicide bomber with connections to "Islamic State" ("IS") jihadis.
He told reporters in Sanliurfa province, which Suruc is part of, that the death toll had risen to 32 from 31 and that 29 other victims were still in hospital. The attackers targeted a cultural center where a leftist youth group had gathered.
The activists were part of a rebuilding mission for the flashpoint Syrian town of Kobani, just over the border, which Kurdish forces retook from IS earlier this year.
Earlier on Tuesday, Davutoglu had visited Suruc and went to see some of the wounded in hospital.
The government condemned the attack as terrorism. It also - for the first time - directly accused "Islamic State" of carrying out an attack on Turkish soil.
IS has not claimed responsibility so far.
The blast was widely condemned, by the US and European governments. The German Foreign Ministry sent its condolences.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged her support for Turkey as well. "We are united in our aim to defend our common values and a peaceful coexistence," she wrote in a condolence telegram.
Turkey heightens border security
Turkey has also stepped up security on the border with Syria, something the US and other NATO allies have long urged Ankara to do.
Monday's attack was one of the deadliest in Turkey in recent years. In 2013, the Turkish border town of Reyhanli was attacked in a twin car bombing, which killed at least 50 people.
Hundreds of pro-Kurdish activists took to the streets of Turkish cities on Monday night to protest the attack and government policy on Syria, with police in Istanbul using water cannon to disperse rally participants.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, said the ruling AKP party bore responsibility for the bombing and accused it of backing IS against Syria's Kurds.
ng/kms,ipj (AFP, dpa, Reuters)