- Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-SURUC EYEWITNESS Eyewitness describes Suruc blast near-miss
- Date: 21st July 2015
- Summary: SURUC, TURKEY (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS TV) EXTERIOR OF CULTURAL CENTRE WHERE BLAST TOOK PLACE WITH BANNER READING (in Turkish) "The freedom of our leader Apo is our freedom" BROKEN WINDOWS OF CULTURAL CENTRE CROWD APPLAUDING / TOYS ON GROUND WOMAN CRYING BY TOYS ON GROUND THAT GROUP WERE CARRYING TO KOBANI BEFORE THEY WERE KILLED TOYS ON GROUND MORE OF WOMAN CRYING VARIOUS
- Embargoed: 5th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6UH152KBCWHTPFFBJB786NRM0
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
An eye-witness spoke of his narrow escape from the bomb blast in Suruc as he attended the funerals of his friends on Tuesday (July 21).
The blast on Monday (July 20) killed 32 people, mostly university-aged students from an activist group as they gathered to make a statement to the local media about a trip they were planning to help rebuild Kobani in Syria.
Ismail Denli was part of the group and he looked on as mourners and demonstrators gathered outside the cultural centre where the blast took place, some in the crowd cried, others held the toys the group was planning to take for children in Kobani.
28-year old Denli, a wheelchair user before the attack, is originally from Kobani and he described what happened.
"I was holding the banner during the speech. At some point, due to my situation, I asked them to hold it,'' Denli said, referring to his use of a wheelchair.
''I handed it over and immediately afterwards there was a very strong explosion. They were my brothers, my friends, we were supposed to travel together," he added.
Kobani, where the students attacked on Monday had hoped to build a library and plant trees, has come under repeated Islamic State assault and has been a rallying point for Turkey's Kurds, many of whom suspect Ankara of covertly backing the Islamist insurgents against their brethren in Syria.
Turkey sees the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria as closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group whose fight with the Turkish state has killed 40,000 people since 1984. Fears linger that the armed rebellion could be reignited, threatening the fabric of the Turkish state.
Speaking under a banner featuring the jailed leader of the PKK Abdullah Ocalan, Denli mourned the loss of his two best friends Osman Ciccekli and Kasim Deprem.
"We were supposed to go to Kobani together. Three of us, three friends, three comrades. We were always together. They left me and now they've gone," he said.
The crowd waved flags of the Federation of Socialist Youth Association (SGDF), the group the victims belonged to, as coffins were laid in the ground.
Video has emerged of the moment of the blast, shot by one of the activists. The footage showed young men and women standing behind a banner declaring support for Kobani, some holding up small red flags. Suddenly there was a huge explosion, apparently from within the crowd, sending up a column of flame.
Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kobani was the site of one of the biggest battles against Islamic State last year and was secured by Syrian Kurdish fighters last month after repeated assaults.
Turkey's Kurds have been enraged by what they see as the AKP government's failure to do more to stop Islamic State. The PKK held Ankara responsible for Monday's attack, saying it had "supported and cultivated" Islamic State against the Kurds. The government denies this and say they have identified a suspect. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None