Turkish Violence Rocks Capital City as Bombing Kills 95

`Peace and democracy' attack deadliest in recent history
Explosions come less than 3 weeks before Turkey's repeat vote

People gather at the site of an explosion close to Ankara's main train station on October 10, 2015 in Ankara, Turkey.
Photographer: Muammer Tan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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By Constantine Courcoulas, Benjamin Harvey, and Selcan Hacaoglu

October 10, 2015 at 8:34 AM UTC

Updated on

October 10, 2015 at 8:37 PM UTC

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Bomb explosions in Turkey’s capital killed at least 95 people on Saturday in the deadliest terror attack in the nation’s recent history as fallout from Syria’s civil war fuels political and ethnic tensions ahead of elections next month.

The blasts in downtown Ankara targeted a gathering of people, including many Kurds, ahead of a “peace and democracy” march to urge an end to violence between the government and Kurdish militants. While no one claimed responsibility, interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised news conference that militants from Islamic State or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, could be behind the bloodshed.