On Saturday, October 10th, during a peaceful rally in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, two powerful bombs exploded killing at least 97 and injuring over 400 peaceful protesters. The siamese bombs exploded around 10 am during the rally which was being held by the People’s Democratic Party. The bombs exploded near the main train station, where hundreds of people were gathered for lunch and awaiting a speech regarding the dispute between the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Turkish government. The rally had hoped to renew ties between Kurdish rebels and security of Turkey which have recently been disputing violently.

It is believed the twin bombs were detonated by two suicide bombers in an act of terrorism. It was reported that 68 people were killed instantly by the blast, and 29 lost their lives hours later due to severe wounds and injuries.

It is unknown who the suicide bombers were. Some are speculating that the bombers are involved with the growing terrorist organization, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but Turkey has avoided fighting them in hopes to get Turkish prisoners of ISIS released. However, Turkey has recently agreed with the United States in allowing strikes on ISIS from a base in southern turkey, a CNN article reports.

During a conference following the attack, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the next three days will be a mourning period honoring the victims. He strongly believes the attacks were implemented by ISIS.

MDO will follow this story and will continue to give updates.

For more information and sources: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bombs-explode-turkey-peace-rally-ankara/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/10/middleeast/turkey-ankara-bomb-blast/index.html