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At least 86 killed in twin bombings near train station in Turkey’s capital

Posted at 10:29 AM, Oct 10, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-10 10:29:46-04

ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) — Two powerful bombs exploded near the main train station in Ankara on Saturday morning, causing carnarge, killing at least 86 people and injuring 186 others, in the deadliest attack in the Turkish capital in recent memory.

The explosion, which caused chaos and bloodshed, took place during a peace march involving, among others, the pro-Kurdish HDP, or People’s Democratic Party.

The attack also came before national elections scheduled for November 1.

Video showed bodies strewn on sidewalks, with injured people lying on the ground with bystanders trying desperately to help them.

The blasts were so powerful they shook high-rise office buildings at some distance. The death toll is expected to climb.

A newly aggressive stance toward ISIS

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, though suspicion immediately fell on the ISIS terrorist group, or on Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

Turkey has avoided conflict with ISIS, perhaps in exchange for the release earlier this year of dozens of Turkish hostages seized in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The quid pro quo of that deal has never been announced.

However, Turkey recently changed its stance and allowed the U.S. to launch strikes on ISIS from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.

But there was no initial word on who might have been responsible. CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen said there was nothing about the attack that would point to one group over another.

“I think that from what we know, it appears to have been a suicide bomber,” Bergen said. “Both groups have deployed these in the past.

“I will say that when we’ve seen ISIS attacks, they have tended to be in the border region along the Turkish/Syrian border. This is of course in the capital, Ankara, in the middle of the country, so that’s something to think about. And again, go back to the context of this rally. It was at a rally to protest the war by the Turkish state and Kurdish separatists.”

Is Turkey hurting ISIS?

But some observers had predicted that Turkey might be subject to terrorist attacks because of its newly aggressive stance toward ISIS.

In aninterview with CNN in July, Esra Ozyurek, chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at the London School of Economics, said that attacks in Turkey, or the absence of them, would indicate whether ISIS was being hurt by the strikes based out of Turkey.

“If Turkey’s really hurting ISIS, then there will be attacks,” Ozyurek said.

Many Turks have joined ISIS’ ranks, with a large number being recruited in Ankara, according to reports. Turks may make up a third of ISIS, according to reports.

But, on the Kurdish front, a peace process last year appeared close to reaching an agreement.

However, when the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to win many votes in Kurdish areas of the country in June, he appeared to abandon the reconciliation process.

In return, hostilities between Kurds and the Turkish government, which have killed tens of thousands of people since 1984, have been renewed.