Turkish police attacked protesters in Istanbul on Monday who were demonstrating against the government’s failure in preventing terrorist assaults in the country.
Anti-government protesters gathered at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, chanting slogans and holding banners denouncing Ankara’s mismanagement, which they blame for the terror attacks, including the car bomb explosion k that killed 37 people on Sunday.
Press TV reports:
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However, the gathering turned violent after security forces intervened, firing water cannon and rubber bullets at the demonstrators. Police forces also arrested several people during the rally.
On Sunday, a bomb attack struck a busy transportation hub in Ankara, killing at least 37 people and injuring 125 others.
No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but security officials say initial findings suggest the two perpetrators of the car bombing, a man and a woman, were linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group.
Following the bombing, the Turkish army stepped up its military campaign against the PKK.
Turkish warplanes targeted PKK positions in northern Iraq on Monday. The strikes pounded arms depots and shelters of the militant group in the mountainous Kandil and Gara regions, the army said.
Inside the country, authorities have also declared curfew in the mainly Kurdish southeastern town of Sirnak from Monday night.
The new blast came less than a month after another car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people. Militants with the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) group claimed responsibility for the incident on its website.
Niamh Harris
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