18-2-2016
49 minutes ago
BBC
Turkey has vowed to retaliate against the perpetrators of a
powerful blast in the capital Ankara that left at least 28 people dead and 61
injured.
"Turkey will not shy away from using its right to
self-defence at any time, any place or any occasion," President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said.
Officials said a vehicle full of explosives was detonated as
military buses were passing by on Wednesday.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The US condemned the blast, with National Security Council
spokesman Ned Price saying: "We stand together with Turkey, a Nato ally, a
strong partner."
The blast happened in an area close to parliament and military
headquarters.
Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the area and
witnesses said the blast was heard all over the city.
Some of the victims were civilians.
In a separate development later on Wednesday, an explosion
damaged a building housing a Turkish cultural centre near the Swedish capital
Stockholm, officials said. No-one was injured.
It was not clear if the incident was linked to the Ankara
blast.
In a statement released several hours after the Ankara
attack, President Erdogan said: "Our determination to retaliate to these
attacks, in Turkey and abroad, which aim at our unity, togetherness and future,
is increasing with such actions."
Mr Erdogan cancelled a planned trip to Azerbaijan on
Thursday, while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said he would not go to
Brussels where he was due to attend meetings about the refugee crisis in
Europe.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag described the
attack - which happened at about 16:30 GMT - as an "act of
terrorism".
Security forces carried out a controlled explosion on a
suspect package after the blast.
Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks in recent months,
and there have been increasing concerns that the country could be targeted by
another big attack.
It is not clear who was behind the blast in Ankara. Security
sources blamed both so-called Islamic State (IS) and militants from the banned
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Reuters reported.
A government spokesman said the attack had been well
planned.
Recent attacks in Turkey
January 2016: At least 10 people, mostly German tourists,
are killed in a suspected IS suicide bombing in Istanbul
October 2015: More than a hundred people are killed in a
double-suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara
July 2015: In the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc, near
the Syrian border, over 30 people are killed in a suicide bombing, again blamed
on IS
The PKK has been fighting for autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish
minority for decades and has carried out regular attacks on Turkish security
forces.
The blast in Ankara comes as Turkey steps up its involvement
in the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
It has been shelling the Kurdish YPG militia in northern
Syria, who it sees as allied to the PKK.
Turkey has also allowed a US-led coalition bombing IS to use
one of its air bases.
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