Two dead, 100 hurt in blasts at Kurdish rally in Turkey

Two blasts ripped through a Kurdish rally in Turkey on Friday, killing two people and injuring more than 100 in what President Tayyip Erdogan described as a “provocation” designed to undermine peace before Sunday’s parliamentary election. The explosions occurred as tens of thousands of people gathered for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) election rally in Diyarbakir, the largest city in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey. Initial reports said there had been one explosion but a senior security source told Reuters there were two blasts. Officials initially blamed a faulty power transformer at the rally site but later ruled that possibility out.

It is very important that all our citizens are careful in the face of provocations like this aimed at undermining our democracy, the atmosphere of peace and brotherhood in our country.

President Tayyip Erdogan

Tensions have run high as the HDP campaigns to become the first party with Kurdish origins to win seats in parliament in Sunday’s election. Previously, Kurdish MPs have joined the legislature as independents. The HDP needs to overcome a 10 percent vote threshold, and some opinion polls show it could seize enough seats to deprive the long-ruling AK Party of the majority it has enjoyed since sweeping to power in 2002.

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