Police Detain Four Suspects After Deadly Gaziantep Blast
Law enforcement officials took four suspects under custody in connection with Monday's deadly blast in the southeastern province of Gaziantep that killed nine people and injured 69 across the Karşıyaka Police Station.
The suspects are currently under interrogation at the Gaziantep Police Headquarters' Anti-Terror Department, after police caught them in the district of Siverek in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa upon information they gathered from the driver of the hauler that brought the vehicle loaded with explosives into the blast area.
The funeral ceremonies of the nine people who lost their lives in the explosion are to be held today. 17 of the injured are still under treatment in hospital, while four of them are still in critical condition, according to reports.
Mob attacks BDP building in Gaziantep
A group of around 100 people also attacked the Nizip District Offices of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on Tuesday evening. The assailants first tore down the BDP's signboard hanging over the building with sticks in their hands; then they began kicking the shutters and shattered the windows. Police officers who arrived on the scene consequently put out the Molotov cocktails that were still on fire and dispersed the crowd.
Blast victims' identities emerge
The vehicle that contained the explosives bore the license plate "34 YNU 86" at the time of the blast and had gone missing since the day it was stolen, according to reports.
A news story that appeared in the daily Hürriyet also claimed that M.T.K., a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in charge of the countryside in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and codenamed İrfan Ahmed, had plotted the attack along with his team.
The PKK, however, had issued a statement yesterday claiming they bore no connection to the incident.
The names and identities of the nine people who lost their lives in the blast also came to light along with emerging reports:
Onur Fikret Aker: Registered in the population records of Gaziantep's Islahiye district, Onur was 21 years old. He was performing his compulsory military service in the southeastern province of Şırnak but was on a leave for the Ramadan holiday.
Duygu Aker: Duygu was a 21 year old native of Gaziantep.
Almina Melisa Aker: Born in Gaziantep, Almina was only a year old.
Süleyman Alkan: Süleyman was three years old and registered in Gaziantep's Yığınlı village.
Sevgi Gülperi İnanç: Registered in the district of Seyhan in the southern province of Adana, Sevgi was 11 years old.
Davut Adak: Davut was a 31 year old prison guard registered in the village of Dilektaşı in Diyarbakır's Ergani district.
Safi Canbaş: A 48 year old prison guard, Safi was registered in the records of Gaziantep's Oğuzeli Doğanpınar village.
İsmail Daler: A 30 year old prison guard, İsmail was also registered in Gaziantep's Oğuzeli Doğanpınar village.
Sena Büyükkonut: Sena was 13 years old and enrolled as a seventh grader at the Kenan Evren Primary School.
Government and opposition figures react to the incident
President Abdullah Gül, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the main opposition People's Republican Party (CHP,) and Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the opposition far-right wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP,) are all expected to attend the funeral ceremony in Gaziantep today.
"I condemn those who committed this monstrous act which targeted innocent civilians including children," President Gül said in a written statement.
Prime Minister Erdoğan also stressed their determination to "continue waging the struggle against terrorism without allowing a rupture in social peace or making any concession with respect to the rule of law."
"No bomb can abrogate the law of fraternity between Turks and Kurds," Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ also said.
The MHP's deputy leader Semih Yalçın, on the other hand, claimed there were shortcomings in intelligence and security with respect to the influx of refugees arriving from Syria and other intelligence information that had earlier arrived in the region. (AS)