Turkey: Amnesty International condemns bombing targeting civilians i..
The bombing occurred at around 12 midday in Suruc,, a town on Turkey's border with Syria and close to the predominantly Kurdish city of Kobani/Ayn Al-Arab in Syria.
According to a statement from the Turkish authorities shortly after the blast, 27 people had been killed and close to 100 people were receiving treatment for injuries, some of them life threatening.
Amnesty International condemns the bombing, which appears to have been carried out in a way that maximises the number of civilian casualties. Such attacks show contempt for the right to life and breach the most basic principles of international law. No individual or group has yet claimed
responsibility for the attack.
The bombing appears to have targeted the Amara Cultural Centre in the centre of Suruc,. At the time of the bombing, young people from Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) who had come to Suruc, on the way to provide humanitarian aid in Kobani, were making a press statement.
In September and October 2014 up to 200,000 Kurdish refugees passed though Suruc, after fleeing the assault on Kobani by the armed group that calls itself Islamic state. A large number of Kurdish refugees from Syria continue to be accommodated in and around Suruc,.
Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation and to bring all those responsible for the bombing to justice.