Bombing at Wedding in Turkey Kills at Least 50

 

At least 50 people were killed in the attack. Credit Ahmed Deeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A suspected suicide bombing killed at least 50 people and wounded at least 90 at a wedding ceremony in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks to strike the restive region in the past week.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said in a statement that the Islamic State militant group was probably behind what appeared to be a suicide attack on Saturday in the city of Gaziantep and that its aim was to sow divisions among ethnic groups in the country and “spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines.”

The explosion occurred about 11 p.m. in the district of Sahinbey, close to the Syrian border, the governor of Gaziantep, Ali Yerlikaya, said in a brief statement. His office also provided the casualty figures.

Relatives grieving at a hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey. Credit Ahmed Deeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Televised footage showed scenes of chaos in the aftermath of the blast. Crowds gathered, shouting “God is the greatest” as forensic teams moved onto the site. Ambulances could be seen rushing to the area and leaving with bodies covered in white sheets.

The attack came nearly two months after militants suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State stormed Istanbul’s main airport with guns and bombs, killing at least 44 people. Turkey has been rocked by a wave of urban terrorist attacks in the past year as it confronts threats from multiple fronts, including the Islamic State, which recently lost ground in northern Syria, and Kurdish insurgents, who have resumed a war with the Turkish state in the southeast and were blamed by the authorities for four bombings in the past week.

Turkey is also reeling from a failed coup last month that aimed to topple the government of Mr. Erdogan and left at least 240 people dead. Mr. Erdogan said on Saturday that there was no difference between the various terrorist organizations that are attacking the country.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the attack at the wedding and vowed to continue to fight terrorist groups. “No matter what this treacherous terror organization is called, we as the people, the state and the government will pursue our determined struggle against it,” he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Mr. Yildirim had told reporters that Turkey would take a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria over the next six months and was willing to accept a role for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria during a transitional period. But he insisted that Mr. Assad would have no place in Syria’s future.

NYT