Double terrorist attack in Ankara: 30 known to have died on rally for peace in Turkey

At least 30 people died and 126 were injured in a double terrorist attack in Ankara. Suicide bombers blew themselves up under an overpass, at which residents of the capital of Turkey had gathered for a peace rally 'Labor. Peace. Democracy', organized by trade unions and social organizations, and directed against the escalation of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict in the south-east of the country.

The explosions were accidentally captured on a video, which shows how the blast wave covers young people, who were chanting slogans of the rally, and a flame appears behind them. After that, people start to flee, and at this moment a second explosion occurred.

At the moment, participants of the failed rally are organizing a spontaneous protest action, about 3000 people are taking part in it. At the same time, the police have cordoned off the area of the terrorist attack and have dispersed the crowd with shots into the air.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately ended his trip to Istanbul and returned to Ankara. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu gathered an emergency meeting of the Security Council of Turkey.

Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev have already expressed their condolences to the Turkish people and Erdogan. Embassies of both countries have not reported about the deaths of citizens of Russia and Azerbaijan in this terrorist act yet.

Political scientist Orhan Gafarli, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, first of all drew attention to the essence of the rally, during which the two explosions occurred. "This rally was intended to promote the unification of the Turkish and Kurdish populations, it was carried out to strengthen the friendship between the two peoples, for peace in the region and in Turkey, so that the Kurdish issue, which has been so acute in recent years, is resolved peacefully," he explained.

In this connection, according to him, the attack was a shock, because this time it was not directed against the police or the army, but against civilians who had gathered for the sake of security and stability in the country.

Opposition political scientist Hakan Aksay, in his turn, put today's act of terror as part of a series of crimes, which became frequent after the recent parliamentary elections in the country. "Once it became clear that a coalition government would not be formed and the country would elect a parliament again, these attacks have become frequent. Today's, certainly, is the most significant. Opposition members have already accused, though not openly, the ruling powers of it, because in their opinion, in this way the authorities discredit the opposition forces, primarily associated with the Kurdish movement, and as a result they will not be able to overcome the barrier to enter parliament," he noted.

At the same time, the political scientist dismissed suggestions that the attack could have been directed against the authorities themselves, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the 'Justice and Development Party.'

Meanwhile, the press secretary of the 'Justice and Development Party' Omer Celik described the attack as a provocation before the elections. "We curse this act of terrorism. All the intelligence agencies received the necessary instructions. It is a big provocation for the exacerbation of the situation before the elections," Celik stressed.

Former Turkish Foreign Minister, a member of the AKP, Mevlut Cavusoglu, stressed that the terrorist attack in Ankara was a provocation aimed against the democratic values of the country. He assured that the authorities will do everything to find and punish the criminals.