‘IS bomber’ kills at least 50 at Turkey wedding

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the IS extremist group was the “likely perpetrator” of the bomb attack, the deadliest in 2016, in Gaziantep late on Saturday that targeted a celebration attended by many Kurds. The remains of a suicide vest were found at the scene, the chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement, broadcaster CNN-Turk reported. 

The explosion was the latest attack to rock the key NATO member in a horrific year that has seen strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants as well as a bloody July 15 botched coup. Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement that 50 people had been killed, raising a previous toll of 30. He had previously said 94 were wounded in what he described as an “abhorrent terror bomb attack on a wedding.” 

Erdogan said in a statement there was “no difference” between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom he blames for the failed coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep.” 

Reports said the wedding had a strong Kurdish presence. The Dogan news agency said the bride and groom were from the mainly Kurdish region of Siirt further to the east and had themselves been uprooted due to the flare-up in violence with Kurdish militants. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said its members had been present at the wedding which was also attended by many women and children. The Hurriyet daily said the bride and groom were in hospital but their lives were not in danger.