News / Turkey

Turkey has turned into bloodbath after Ankara blast: Opposition

Thursday, 18 February 2016 9:21 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 18 February 2016 9:43 PM ]

The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, speaks during a meeting of his party lawmakers at the Grand National Assembly in the capital, Ankara, on January 26, 2016. ©AFP

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) says the country has descended into a bloodbath following a deadly car bomb explosion targeting military vehicles in the capital, Ankara.

“The point we arrived at is that the country has turned into a bloodbath. It is a pity. It is wrong for this country. All of us are in pain. My heart is hurting. It is hurting deeply,” CHP leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, told reporters on Thursday.

He further noted that Turkey is not being governed well under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

At least 28 people lost their lives when a car laden with explosives detonated on Wednesday next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights on Ankara’s Inonu Boulevard. At least 81 others sustained injuries in the act of terror.

Twenty-seven of the deceased were members of the military while the only civilian was a journalist identified as Gulsen Yildiz, who specialized in agriculture.

Firefighters try to extinguish flames following a car bomb attack that targeted a convoy of military vehicles in Ankara, Turkey, on February 17, 2016. ©AFP

Seven of those wounded are still in intensive care unit, the Turkish Health Ministry said.

Following the deadly attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a trip to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also scrapped plans for a Thursday EU mini-summit on the refugee crisis between Turkey and 11 EU countries.

Hours after the bombing, Turkish fighter jets carried out airstrikes against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in the Haftanin area of Dohuk Province in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region late on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu delivers a speech at the Grand National Assembly in the capital, Ankara, on February 16, 2016. ©AFP

On Thursday, Davutoglu and Erdogan both said the deadly car bomb attack in Ankara was a joint operation by the outlawed PKK in cooperation with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). He said the bomber was a Syrian national named Salih Necar. However, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political arm of the YPG, rejected the accusation.

Erdogan also said Turkish authorities have arrested 14 people nationwide in connection with the car bombing.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk