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Demonstrators confront riot police who blocked ambulances from reaching victims following explosions during a peace march in Ankara, Turkey, October 10, 2015. Reuters

Explosions Rock Turkish Peace Rally; Police Block Ambulances Trying to Help Victims

At least 86 dead; 180 wounded

Common Dreams staff

Twin explosions outside Ankara’s main train station on Saturday morning killed at least 86 people and wounded up to 190 in an attack targeting a peace rally in Turkey's capital city.

The peace rally and march was organized by unions, NGO's and  the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)  to protest against the conflict between the state and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey.

A video caught the moment the first bomb went off.

A line of men and women were holding hands and singing as people milled in the background waving banners with anti-violence slogans, when the huge blast rocked the crowd.

 

Hundreds of protesters then clashed with police after officers blocked off a road keeping ambulances from aiding victims of this morning’s bombing.

Bulent Tekdemir, who was at the rally, told the BBC that police used tear gas shortly after the explosions at 10am and “would not let ambulances through” in the aftermath.

Footage showed lines of riot officers appearing to block a road near the blast site, with ambulances parked in the background.

 

Ankara'daki patlama onrası mitinge katılanlar polise tepki gös...

Ankara'daki patlama sonrası yaralılara yardım edenleri engellemeye çalışan polisler ile mitinge katılanlar arasında olaylar çıktı https://evrn.sl/plZw0

Posted by EVRENSEL GAZETESİ - www.evrensel.net on Saturday, October 10, 2015

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
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