A suspect has been identified in the
suicide bomb attack that killed 32 young activists in Turkey, the
country's prime minister has said.
Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking near
the scene of the blast in Suruc near the Syrian border, said the
suspect's international and domestic links were being investigated.
He said there was a "high probability" the Islamic State group was to blame.
The government has now vowed to increase security at the Syrian border.
"What's necessary will be done against whomever is responsible," said Mr Davutoglu. "This is an attack that targeted Turkey."
He
rejected claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had
not done enough to combat IS militants, saying the government had
"never tolerated any terrorist group".
A cabinet meeting on Wednesday was due to examine additional security measures along the border with Syria.
IS militants have not responded to claims that they were behind the bombing.
Officials
initially suggested the bomber might have been female, but Turkish
media outlets have subsequently named a man in connection with the
attack.
The youth activists, who were mainly university students,
were holding a news conference when the bomb ripped through the Amara
Cultural Centre on Monday afternoon.
They had been planning to travel to Syria to help rebuild the town of Kobane.
Social media images showed the group, who were members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations, relaxing over breakfast a few hours before the blast.
The funerals of many of the victims have already taken place, including a mass ceremony for 25 of those who died.
Mr Davutoglu said 29 of the 100 people who were injured were still being treated in hospital.
Media captionVideo footage shows a group of young people gathered around a banner before the blast
At the scene: Hatice Kamer, BBC Turkish Service
We saw families looking for their sons and daughters in Suruc hospital.
A
young mother was crying. She said she couldn't find her child, dead or
alive, so they left to continue their search in another hospital.
Then
I saw Shemsa, the mother of Murat Yurtgul, a psychology student in
Istanbul. He had phoned his mother just half an hour before the attack
and told her that they were going to Kobane.
His mother says she
saw his name on the list but couldn't place him in the mortuary nor the
hospital. This morning Murat's uncle called to say an unrecognisable
body had been found in a nearby Gaziantep mortuary.
Emre Genc survived the bomb attack. He was taking pictures at the meeting and fled when the explosion happened.
He
says the group of young people was in a very joyful mood one second and
the next, body pieces were scattered all over the place. There
has been criticism from the main opposition party, CHP, and Kurdish
groups that a national day of mourning has not been declared by the
government.
The government declared three days of mourning when Saudi King Abdullah died in January.
Anger on the streets
Suruc is home to many refugees who have fled fierce fighting between IS and Kurdish fighters in nearby Kobane.
The city was recaptured from the militants by Kurdish forces earlier this year.
There
were violent clashes across Turkey on Monday night, as protesters took
to the streets to accuse the government of not doing enough to combat
the threat of IS.
Two people were wounded after being shot during
clashes in Mersin. According to Reuters, demonstrators in Istanbul
chanted slogans accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of
collaboration with IS.
Western states have also accused Turkey of
not doing enough to halt the rise of group, but the country appears to
have taken a harder line against it in recent weeks.
BBC Middle
East correspondent Jim Muir said the authorities were now likely to
target militants within Turkey itself in response to this attack, which
could lead to further retaliatory attacks.
Demonstrators are angry about the government's approach to Islamic State militants
Protesters threw fireworks at police in Istanbul
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