Turkish PM sacks security chiefs, pays homage to victims

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday paid homage to victims of the twin bombings in Ankara as the heads of the capital's police, intelligence and security units were removed from their posts.

Erdogan, accompanied by Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto, laid flowers in front of the city's railway station where two suicide bombers blew themselves up on Saturday.

Turkey's interior ministry said Wednesday it had removed the police, intelligence and security chiefs of Ankara from their posts in an effort to conduct an effective investigation into the deadly bombings.

The ministry, in a statement on its website late on Tuesday, did not say if the officials would to return to their posts after the investigation.

The blasts killed 97 people at a peace rally organised by leftists and pro-Kurdish activists, making it Turkey’s deadliest attack ever.

The government has said the Islamic State (IS) group is the prime suspect behind the attack, which also injured more than 500.

There have been growing indications that the authorities are focusing on possible parallels – or even links – to a July 20 suicide bombing at a peace rally that killed 34 on the Syrian border.

The bombings have raised political tensions to new highs as Turkey prepares for a November 1 snap election, with polarisation within the country now greater than ever.

Erdogan has admitted there were security shortcomings but said their magnitude would only be made clear later.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
14/10/15
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Related: 

• Turkey 'close' to naming Ankara bombers 

• PKK says halts attacks in Turkey

• NATO Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg Monday urged Turkey to be "proportionate" in the way it responds to terrorist attacks, even though it has suffered from crises in the Middle East more than any other NATO member...

• An Ankara court issued on Oct. 14 a broad media ban over the Oct. 10 Ankara suicide bomber investigation.

According to the court decision, the ban includes “all kinds of news, interviews, criticism and similar publications in print, visual, social media and all kinds of media on the Internet” covered by the investigation.

All media outlets in the country have officially been notified of the decision, which brings in one of the broadest recent media bans and is effective immediately.

In addition, on Oct. 12, a restriction decision was given about the bombing investigation over the prosecutor’s demand. According to the decision, lawyers will not be able to take information and documents from the file with some exceptions. The same decision had been made over both the Suruç and Diyarbakır bomb attacks earlier this year.

Speaking to Reuters on Oct. 14, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said some of the suspects in a suicide bombing that killed at least 97 people in Ankara had spent months in Syria and that they could be linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“We are working on [investigating] two terrorist organizations, Daesh [ISIL] and the PKK, because we have certain evidence regarding the suicide bombers having links with Daesh, but also some linkages with PKK groups,” Davutoğlu said.

The Oct. 10 bombing targeting a peace rally in the capital city of Ankara left at least 97 dead and wounded hundreds, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.

From 2010 to 2014, Turkish media faced over 150 gag orders, Hürriyet daily reported last year. The subjects of the bans have included deadly attacks, corruption cases, the wiretapping of officials, a mining disaster and even football match-fixing claims.
hurriyetdailynews.com
14/10/15