ISIS bombing that killed 109 commemorated in Turkey’s capital

Hundreds of activists gathered in Ankara on Monday to commemorate a bombing that killed over 100 people seven years ago in Turkey’s capital. 

On October 10, 2015 two suicide bombers exploded themselves among crowds during a meeting by the Pro-Kurdish HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) outside the Ankara Central Railway Station, killing 109 people. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but a Turkish court convicted nine Islamic State (ISIS) members with life sentences in prison in 2018.

At 10.00 am, hundreds of people in Ankara met with police resistance who tried to disperse the crowd, leaving only the family members for a small ceremony.

But later the demonstrators reached the place where they released a press briefing to remember their comrades massacred in the bombing. 

The crowds carried a banner with the photographs of the dead and demanded that the government erect a monument for their memory. 

“How could we families endure for 7 years? The court is acting as if we are not citizens of this country. We want justice. We don't want to mourn alone,” said Mehtap Sakinci Coskun, wife of an attorney who was among the killed in the bombing.

Deputies from HDP and CHP (Republican People’s Party) left carnations in the place. 

Governor’s office blocked monument

A project to erect a memorable monument for the massacre was blocked by the governor’s office in Ankara on the grounds that it hindered the train station’s silhouette. The project would plant 103 trees, 1 for each of the victims of the massacre, which would be  surrounded by bronze sculptures.