The Turkish air force has pounded
Kurdish militants a day after a deadly bomb attack on a rally for peace
in the capital Ankara.
Planes attacked Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in both the south-east and over the border in northern Iraq.
Saturday's twin bombing in Ankara killed at least 95 people, making it the deadliest such attack in years.
Security sources say they suspect the so-called Islamic State (IS) group was behind the attack.
The air force struck after the government rejected a new ceasefire announced by the PKK on Saturday.
Turkey was already tense before Saturday's attack, with a snap general election looming on 1 November.
The
governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority
in June after gains by the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP),
which was involved in Saturday's rally. Deep shock and anger in Ankara: "This is the worst scene I've ever seen." Who are the Kurds? Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What's going on?
'Without a break'
PKK positions were destroyed in the Metina and Zap areas of northern Iraq in Sunday's air strikes, the Turkish military said.
On
Saturday, the air force targeted the PKK in Turkey's Diyarbakir
province. Forty-nine people were reported killed in the strikes, but
theses figures could not be verified independently.
"The PKK
ceasefire means nothing for us," one senior Turkish security official
told Reuters news agency. "The operations will continue without a
break."
The government has furiously denied opposition suggestions it was involved in the Ankara bomb attacks itself.
HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas accused the government of failing to fully investigate earlier attacks on political rallies.
"The
state which gets information about the bird that flies and every flap
of its wing, was not able to prevent a massacre in the heart of Ankara,"
he said.
According to the HDP, the true death toll from Saturday is at least 128.
The Turkish authorities believe two suicide bombers struck at the rally on Saturday.
Two senior security officials who spoke to Reuters said the initial signs were that IS was to blame.
"All
signs indicate that the attack may have been carried out by Isil [IS],"
one of the unnamed sources said. "We are completely focused on Isil."
Funerals
Sunday saw the start of three days of mourning for the victims.
In
Istanbul, hundreds of mourners at the funeral of one victim, Kubra
Meltem Mollaoglu, chanted, "The killer government will be held
accountable for its crimes!" Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Istanbul saw the funeral of at least one blast victim on Sunday
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Grief overcame mourners at the funeral of Korkmaz Tedik in Ankara
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Family and friends bereaved by the bombers waited outside a morgue in Ankara
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Police used water cannon on protesters in Diyarbakir
Thousands of people gathered in the centre of Ankara to remember the victims.
There
was a clear sense of anger towards the government, with people blaming
it for security failures, the BBC's Selin Girit reports.
In the
south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, police used tear gas and water cannon
to disperse people protesting about the Ankara bombing.
Outside Ankara's forensic morgue, families and friends of victims waited grief-struck for the bodies of their loved ones.
"Everyone came here to defend peace," Umit, whose his sister died in the attack, told AFP news agency.
Another
person outside the morgue, Havva, said: "Those who do not believe in
brotherhood, those who don't believe in equality of the people of this
country, are the ones who provoked what we saw yesterday in Ankara."
The victims
Turkey is mourning the deaths of at least 95 people. These just a few of those who lost their lives, clockwise from top left:
Elif Kanlioglu: A 20-year old student in her second year of university, who loved studying foreign languages.
Yilmaz Elmascan: Described by a friend as a peace-loving man, who got married last year. His wife is also said to have been killed in the attack.
Sebnem Yurtman: Studied at Ankara university, and later was a student in Adana, and was described as "full of life".
Mesut Mak: He was a member of an agriculture and forestry union. He had a daughter.
Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced three days of national mourning,
and said there was evidence that two suicide bombers had carried out
the attacks.
Media captionFootage shows the aftermath of an attack on the Turkish capital, Ankara - Sahdi Al-Kashif reportsPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which comes
three weeks before a re-run of June's inconclusive parliamentary
elections, was an act of terrorism and was "loathsome". He has cancelled
a planned visit to Turkmenistan.
The rally was demanding an end
to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the
Turkish government, and had been due to start at 12:00 local time.
The pro-Kurdish HDP party was among those attending, and it said in a statement that it believes its members were the main target of the bombings.
HDP
leader Selahettin Demirtas has blamed the state for the attack and has
cancelled all election rallies. Mr Demirtas angrily condemned the
government as "murderers" and said it had blood on its hands.
The party has previously blamed the government for colluding in attacks on Kurdish activists, which the government denies.
The
two explosions happened shortly after 10:00 as crowds gathered ahead of
the rally. Amateur video footage showed a group of young people holding
hands and singing, before the first blast. Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Banners for the planned peace rally were used to cover victims' bodies
At the scene: Selin Girit, BBC News, Ankara
"I
lost two of my friends," eyewitness Murat Tasdemir told me. "They are
now dead. Many of my friends are wounded. We had to carry the dead and
the injured to the ambulances ourselves."
They had come to the
scene to gather for what was supposed to be a peace rally. Two attacks
within seconds tore them apart. The site is now cordoned off as crime
scene investigation units scour the area. The banners that read "Peace"
are scattered across the ground.
People across Turkey are mourning
for the victims of this deadliest attack on Turkish soil. Many are
wondering: What next? If such an attack could take place in the middle
of the capital city, how will security be maintained for elections in
three weeks' time, they ask.
Bulent
Tekdemir, who was at the rally, told the BBC that the police used tear
gas "as soon as the bomb went off", and "would not let ambulances
through".
A local resident said that angry people tried to attack police cars after the blast. The HDP tweeted that police "attacked" people carrying the injured away. Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Protesters gathered in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, to condemn the attacks
Analysis: Mark Lowen, BBC News, Istanbul
After
the ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state broke down in July,
Turkey has spiralled into tit-for-tat attacks between the two sides,
and tension between Kurds and Turkish nationalists has soared.
Amidst the frenzy of a repeat election in November, it was expected that something dangerous was imminent.
The
pro-Kurdish HDP party has blamed the state. That is undoubtedly a
reference to the so-called "deep state" often talked about here: a shady
mix of nationalist forces either colluding with or supporting the
government in power.
The West's vital ally in the Middle East is
now facing a perfect storm: deep political polarisation, the bubble of
economic success on the brink of bursting, a resumption of violence with
the PKK, the threat from Islamic State, and two million Syrian refugees
and counting.
The tragedy in Ankara is a sign of the dark times Turkey is now facing. Who are the Kurds? Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What's going on? An HDP rally in the city of Diyarbakir was bombed in June, ahead of general elections in which the party entered parliament for the first time.
In July, a suicide bombing by suspected Islamic State militants on a gathering of socialist youth activists in the town of Suruc on the Syrian border killed at least 30 people.
A
ceasefire between the Kurdish militant group the PKK and Turkey's
government later broke down, with the PKK accusing the security forces
of collaborating with IS.
This led to an increase in attacks from both sides over the summer.
On
Saturday the PKK called on its fighters to halt its guerrilla
activities in Turkey unless attacked first. A statement from an umbrella
group that includes the PKK said its forces would "make no attempts to
hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election".
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