Terror group claims Turkey bombings

Turkey declared a day of national mourning on Sunday after twin bombings killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium in Istanbul. The carnage was claimed by a Turkey-based Kurdish militant group.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, said two of its members had sacrificed their lives in the Saturday night attack that targeted security forces outside the Besiktas stadium shortly after the conclusion of a match.

“Two of our comrades were heroically martyred in the attack,” according to a statement posted on TAK’s website.

It described the blasts as reprisal for state violence in the southeast and the ongoing imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. TAK is considered by authorities as a PKK offshoot.

The twin car-and-suicide bombings near the stadium enraged top officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vowed to hunt down the perpetrators. The attack was the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered flags to fly at half staff while Erdogan postponed a planned trip to Kazakhstan, the state news agency Anadolu reported.

The attack targeted police officers, killing 30 of them along with seven civilians and an unidentified person, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters. He said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the “terrorist” act.

In an address at a funeral for the slain police officers before TAK’s statement was released, a furious Soylu condemned Kurdish rebels and their allies in the West, referring to the PKK as “animals”.

“Have you accomplished anything beyond being the servants, pawns and hit men of certain dark forces, of your dark Western partners?” he asked.

The battle between the PKK and the Turkish state has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens. Turkish officials frequently accuse the West of supporting the Kurdish insurgency and of interfering in Ankara’s fight against the militants.

Erdogan vowed his country would fight “the curse of terrorism till the end” after paying a visit to some of the wounded at Haseki Hospital in Istanbul.

Hundreds of flag-carrying demonstrators marched along Istanbul’s coastline toward the stadium at the heart of the blast area. Flags flew at halfstaff across the country and at Turkey’s foreign missions. Passers-by placed flowers on barriers surrounding the soccer stadium.

The first and larger explosion took place about 10:30 pm Saturday after Besiktas beat Bursaspor 2-1 in the Turkish Super League. Erdogan said the attack’s timing aimed to maximize the loss of life, but most fans had left before the detonation.

Soylu said the first blast was caused by a passing vehicle that detonated in an area where police special forces were located at the stadium exit. A riot police bus appears to have been the target. Moments later, a person who had been stopped in nearby Macka Park committed suicide by triggering explosives, according to the minister.

He said 136 people remained hospitalized Sunday after the attack, including 14 in intensive care.

TAK claimed the Turkish people weren’t their target but warned “no one should expect a comfortable life” as long as the ruling party “continues to torture the mothers of Kurdistan every day”.

“Experts say at least 300400 kilograms of explosives had been used. There was a pit where the car detonated,” Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN Turk.

“We have witnessed once more here in Istanbul the ugly face of terror which tramples on any form of values and morals,” he said.

State broadcaster TRT showed images of the wreckage of a car engulfed in flames with emergency services swarming around the scene outside the sports venue.

Other footage showed wrecked police vehicles, while witnesses said the force of the blast shattered the windows of nearby homes.

“I heard two explosions in less than one minute, followed by the sound of gunshots,” one witness said on condition of anonymity.

Besiktas is one of Istanbul’s most popular soccer clubs, and its fans are known for their anti-establishment views and famously played a big role in the 2013 protests against Erdogan, then prime minister.

In June, 47 people were killed in a suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, blamed on the Islamic State group.

Another 57 people including 34 children were killed in August in a suicide attack by an IS-linked bomber at a Kurdish wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.

Other deadly bombings have been claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, seen as a splinter group of the PKK.

CANSU ALKAYA / AP Rescue workers and medics carry a wounded person after bomb attacks that authorities said targeted police near a soccer stadium in Istanbul late on Saturday.

MURAD SEZER / REUTERS A damaged vehicle is seen after bomb blasts in Istanbul on Saturday. The Turkish government said Kurdish militants had claimed responsibility for the attacks.