Turkey says ISIS the primary suspect in Saturday's deadly suicide bombings

Family members of Korkmaz Tedik mourn over the coffin of the victim of suicide bomb blasts in Ankara, Turkey

(Image credit: Gokhan Tan/Getty Images)

last updated 12 October 2015

The death toll from a twin suicide attack near Ankara's main train station on Saturday has risen to at least 97, with another roughly 250 people wounded. On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on national TV that investigators are focusing on Islamic State as the probable perpetrator. The early afternoon attack hit a rally urging peace between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and no group has claimed responsibility. Davutoglu said the attack was aimed at influencing Nov. 1 elections, and that the government is getting close to having some definitive answers: "DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We're close to a name, which points to one group."

Davutoglu's government also blamed ISIS for a similar suicide attack in July that killed 34 people, mostly Kurds, in the town of Suruc. ISIS hasn't claimed responsibility for that attack, either. On Saturday and Sunday, Turkish forces bombed the PKK in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, killing 49 Kurdish militant, Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news service said. More than 2,000 PKK fighters and 150 Turkish troops have been killed since a cease-fire broke down in July, according to Anadolu.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.