Turkey’s top business organization to visit Ankara after bomb attack

ISTANBUL

CİHAN photo

Turkey’s leading business organization, the Turkish Industry and Business Organization (TÜSİAD), will visit the capital Ankara on March 16 to discuss escalating terror attacks and rising security concerns with political party leaders at parliament and to support a call for dialogue. 

“We once again condemn the inhuman terror attack in Ankara with deep sorrow. We offer condolences to all the families who have lost relatives in such as brutal attack and to the whole of Turkey. We wish a full recovery to all those who were injured,” said TÜSİAD chairwoman Cansen Başaran-Symes in a written statement ahead of the visit. 

“We place huge importance on a common stance being taken by all political parties at parliament for the reestablishment of safety and peacefulness of mind across society in such an unsettling climate. In this vein, we will visit the political party leaders in Ankara to support the environment of dialogue and peace in the name of the business world,” Başaran-Symes added. 

A bomb attack killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100 on March 13 in Ankara, in the third major blast to hit Ankara since October 2015. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants bombed a peace rally near the Ankara Railway Station, leaving at least 103 dead on Oct. 10, 2015. Four months later, a suicide car bomb attack targeted military shuttles in the city on Feb. 17, killing 29 people and injuring 81 others.

Leading business organizations from across Turkey have condemned the attack, while also urging for unity in the face of terror and sharing their sorrow and condolences.