Turkey was in mourning following a suicide bombing attack on a peace rally in Ankara Saturday which killed at least 95 people and wounded 245. The Turkish government suspects the Islamic State (IS) terror militia or possibly Kurdish factions for carrying out the attack, and leaders of Kurdish political parties were prevented from placing flowers at the site of the blasts Sunday morning. The attack on the rally, which called for negotiations to end an escalating conflict with Kurdish armed groups in southeastern Turkey, Iraq and northern Syria, are expected to cast yet another shadow over national elections scheduled for 1 November, even as escalating tensions with Russia over its armed intervention in Syria’s civil war has also jarred the political scene. On Saturday, Turkey said three of its F-16s doing a routine patrol mission were locked on by targeting radar from two Assad regime jets and surface-to-air missile systems based in Syria. Read More
