Turkey Closing In on Suspect in Deadly 'Suicide Bombing'
ISIS is the main focus of the investigation, prime minister says.
LONDON— -- No group has claimed responsibility for the deadliest terrorist attack on Turkish soil in modern history, but authorities there say they’ve started to take action against groups that may have been involved, the Turkish prime minister said today, adding that they are close to identifying one of the suspects linked to a terrorist organization.
"It was definitely a suicide bombing,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Turkish TV. “DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We're close to a name, which points to one group,” adding that ISIS was a priority.
At least 50 suspects with alleged links to ISIS were detained after multiple raids around Turkish provinces this weekend in anti-terror police operations, Turkish paper Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“It’s kind of a predictable turn of events,” said Charlie Winter, a senior researcher at London-based think tank Quilliam. “If it’s Islamic State, you can tell immediately the government’s reaction is going to be unflinching and will be to militarize.”
A strong government reaction could bolster support among ISIS sympathizers within the country rather than deter them, he said. Usually the Islamic State militants take clear responsibility over their attacks with media fanfare.
While the international community should be wary of designating blame on any organization or person without evidence, one reason that ISIS might not announce its responsibility is that it hopes to “pass the blame that would pit groups against each other,” Winter said.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which said it was the target of the attack, has put the death toll at 128. The Turkish Prime Minister’s office has said 97 people were killed.
Davutoglu denied there was a lack of security measures by the government. He said officials arrested a suicide bomber in Istanbul prior to the attack and that Turkish intelligence has a list of people who have the ability to make a suicide bomb in Turkey. Another person had also been arrested in Ankara for planning a suicide attack a couple of days before Saturday’s attack.
As Turkey goes into its third day of mourning, people continue to wait outside the main hospital in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, for news on wounded friends and relatives. Computer engineering student Ulas, 21, who asked that his full name not be used, was at the rally where he said he lost 16 of his friends. As he sat outside Numune Hospital the next day, he told ABC News that he thinks there will be more attacks.
Hundreds of people like Ulas had gathered Saturday to rally for peace between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The march was organized by pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups, when two explosions, mere seconds apart, blasted a square in Ankara.
Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.