Ankara – Turkish security forces have arrested 18 suspects following a car bomb attack that killed at least 37 people in the capital city of Ankara.
Gov. Gungoz Azmi-Tuna of Eskisehir said in Ankara on Monday that the arrests were made in simultaneous operations in the northwestern province of Eskisehir and the south-eastern province of Sanliurfa.
The governor said suspects were involved in terrorist propaganda and tried to embrace terrorists and involved in various actions.
“Documents related to “illegal organisations” were seized during the raids.
Sunday’s blast took place in Kizilay District in the heart of Ankara near a bus stop where many people were waiting, leaving 37 dead and several others wounded.
President Recep Erdogan said Turkey had become a target of terror attacks due to instability in the region.
He vowed to continue fighting against terrorism.
A security source said anonymously that Sunday’s attack was the third major blast to hit the Turkish capital since Oct. 2015.
He recalled that on Oct. 10, 2015, suspected Islamic State militants bombed a peace rally near Ankara railway station, killing 103 people.
He said on Feb. 17, a suicide car bomb targeted military shuttles in the capital city, killing 29 and injuring 81 others, in an attack claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, a Kurdish militant group linked to the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
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Since a cease-fire between the government and the PKK collapsed last July, Turkish security forces have been conducting a major campaign against the group in the southeast of the country.
More than 260 members of Turkish security forces and thousands of PKK members have been killed since then in confrontations inside Turkey and in northern Iraq. (Xinhua/NAN)