Four suspects arrested over Ankara bombing
Mesut Hasan Benli - ANKARA
Four of six suspects in the deadly bombing Oct. 10 in Ankara were arrested on Oct. 18.
An Ankara criminal court of peace ordered the arrest of the four suspects late Oct. 18 after an interrogation which lasted about seven hours. The two other suspects were released with a judicial control decision.
A man who allegedly guided Yunus Emre Alagöz, one of the two suicide bombers whose identity has allegedly been confirmed via DNA testing, was among the four arrested suspects, Turkish daily Milliyet reported.
Identified only by his initials, Y.Ş. claimed the second suicide bomber was a foreigner who crossed into Turkey from Syria alongside two other foreigners.
According to Y.Ş.’s claims, Alagöz said there was a demonstration by “infidel PKK members,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, but equating the outlawed organization with the Kurdish-problem focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
“’Our target is the HDP, we will hit them,’ he said. The bombs were already on him. I brought them to Ankara in return for money,” Y.Ş. reportedly said.
Meanwhile, security sources claimed it was almost certain the second suicide bomber was a foreigner.
There was no information with regards to the whereabouts of two other foreigners who crossed into Turkey with the suicide bombers. Sources stated they escaped before Y.Ş. was detained by the police in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep district.
Ömer Deniz Dündar, who was believed to be the second suicide bomber before a DNA mismatch overruled the possibility, could not be located either. Dündar was also on the list of sixteen suspected suicide bombers with links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The prosecutor’s office requested an arrest warrant in absentia for nine suspects, including the two foreigners suspected of being suicide bombers.
The deadly double blasts ahead of a peace rally in Ankara killed at least 102 people and wounded hundreds.
An Ankara criminal court of peace ordered the arrest of the four suspects late Oct. 18 after an interrogation which lasted about seven hours. The two other suspects were released with a judicial control decision.
A man who allegedly guided Yunus Emre Alagöz, one of the two suicide bombers whose identity has allegedly been confirmed via DNA testing, was among the four arrested suspects, Turkish daily Milliyet reported.
Identified only by his initials, Y.Ş. claimed the second suicide bomber was a foreigner who crossed into Turkey from Syria alongside two other foreigners.
According to Y.Ş.’s claims, Alagöz said there was a demonstration by “infidel PKK members,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, but equating the outlawed organization with the Kurdish-problem focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
“’Our target is the HDP, we will hit them,’ he said. The bombs were already on him. I brought them to Ankara in return for money,” Y.Ş. reportedly said.
Meanwhile, security sources claimed it was almost certain the second suicide bomber was a foreigner.
There was no information with regards to the whereabouts of two other foreigners who crossed into Turkey with the suicide bombers. Sources stated they escaped before Y.Ş. was detained by the police in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep district.
Ömer Deniz Dündar, who was believed to be the second suicide bomber before a DNA mismatch overruled the possibility, could not be located either. Dündar was also on the list of sixteen suspected suicide bombers with links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The prosecutor’s office requested an arrest warrant in absentia for nine suspects, including the two foreigners suspected of being suicide bombers.
The deadly double blasts ahead of a peace rally in Ankara killed at least 102 people and wounded hundreds.