Turkey seeks multiple life sentences for suspects in Ankara bombing

Turkey is seeking multiple life sentences for nearly 70 suspects in connection with a deadly bombing in the capital, Ankara, blamed on Kurdish militants.

According to the official news agency Anadolu, Turkish prosecutors are seeking 30 aggravated life sentences for each of the 68 suspects over the February 17 bomb attack against military vehicles, which killed 29 people, mostly soldiers.

The prosecutors have sought one life term for each victim killed and one additional for acting "against the state's security," the report said.

The prosecutors charged that senior leaders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had given instructions for the attack, which was carried out by both members and non-members.

Fugitive PKK leaders Cemil Bayik, Murat Karayilan, Fehman Huseyin and Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader Salih Muslim were also named in the indictment.

Turkey has seen attacks on a host of targets over the past year and a half. Most of the bombings have been blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, the PKK and other Kurdish groups.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) in a statement posted on its website claimed responsibility for the February car bombing in Ankara, saying it had carried out the attack in response to the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

TAK was once linked to the PKK but it says its relationship has been cut.

President Erdogan said at the time that he had "no doubt" that Syrian Kurdish groups fighting Daesh had carried out the bombing.

Senior Turkish officials have already blamed the PYD and its military wing People's Protection Units (YPG) for being behind the attack.

The group has denied any involvement in the attack, saying Ankara was making the accusation in order to extend its military operations in Syria.

Ankara has been bombing YPG positions in northern Syria over the past few months in an attempt to stop Kurdish forces from reaching the border with Turkey.

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