Ankara: Anger towards President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Turkey's worst-ever terrorist attack intensified Sunday as authorities raced to identify the two male suicide bombers it blamed for the bloodshed.
The streets of Ankara filled with anti-government and pro-Kurdish protesters accusing the government of responsibility for the blast that ripped through a peace rally a day earlier, with several shouting "Erdogan murderer" and "government resign!"
In Istanbul on Saturday, a 10,000-strong crowd accused the government of failing to protect citizens by providing security for the event, carrying placards reading "the state is a killer" and "we know the murderers".
As tributes poured in from world leaders, Selahattin Demirtas, leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), was cited as saying "State attacked the people. Condolences recipient should be the people not Erdogan" on the party's Twitter account.
In an emotional address to mourners in Ankara, Demirtas said that citizens should aim to end Erdogan's rule, starting with the upcoming legislative elections.
"We are not going to act out of revenge and hatred. But we are going to ask for (people to be held to) account," he added, saying the vote would be part of a process to "topple the dictator."
The party believes the death toll now stands at 128, higher than the 97 people the prime minister's office said were killed when the bombs exploded on Saturday morning as leftist and pro-Kurdish activists assembled by the city's main train station.
The official toll also said 507 people were wounded, with 160 still in hospital and 65 in intensive care in 19 hospitals.
AFP
