Police intervene to prevent people gathering to commemorate Ankara ISIL attack

Ankara police intervened with tear gas early on Oct. 10 against a group of around 100 people who gathered to enter the designated area to commemorate the second anniversary of the deadly 2015 Ankara train station attack.

Two years have passed since the deadliest terror attack in Turkish history, which took 102 lives and injured more than 500 people. At 10:04 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2015, two explosions rocked the Labor, Peace and Democracy meeting organized by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), union confederations, chambers, medical associations, political parties and groups as they were rallying outside the Ankara Train Station to demand peace in southeast Turkey. The perpetrators of the suicide bombing were later announced to be members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

To mark the second anniversary of the bombing, an event was organized in a designated area where the bombings occurred. The Ankara Governor’s Office said it would only permit close relatives, select political leaders and a limited number of representatives of civil society organizations to enter the area.

Police intervened with tear gas and pressurized water cannons after a group of 100 gathered on Ankara’s central Sıhhiye Street in an attempt to march towards the commemoration program.

Security forces took strict security measures around the area where the commemoration event was due to be held from the early morning. All roads leading to the train station were closed to traffic, while bomb technicians and police officers carried monitored the area.