Kurds seen as target of blast

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21 Jul, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Protesters flash the V-sign during a protest in Istanbul, denouncing the explosion in southeastern Turkey. Photo / AP

Isis involvement in a direct attack on Turkey would be a major change, says expert.

A suspected female Isis suicide bomber set off an explosion near a cultural centre hosting youth activists in a Turkish border town, leaving 30 dead and scores injured.

The blast ripped through the cultural centre in Suruc, just a few kilometres from the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane, which was itself later hit in a co-ordinated suicide car bombing.

Most of the dead were university students with the Federation of Socialist Youths, who had been planning a mission to help rebuild Kobane, which was retaken from Isis (Islamic State) by Kurdish fighters this year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

If Isis' role in the bombing is confirmed, it would be one of the extremist group's deadliest strikes on Turkish soil to date.

Aaron Stein, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, said the attack appeared to target Kurds and was "a spillover of their fight with Isis".

By attacking Turkey directly, "Isis would be signalling a big shift in its military modus operandi, which is to leave Turkey alone in favour of consolidating its gains inside Syria. Any major provocation against Turkey risks bringing it more forcefully into the war. So this may not be an attack on Turkey per se."

Suruc is a bastion of support for the People's Protection Units (YPG), the Western-backed Kurdish militia that has led the fight against Isis along Syria's northern border with Turkey. The town is also home to one of the biggest refugee camps housing Syrians who have fled the bloody conflict at home, sheltering 35,000 refugees.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, condemned the attack which left 100 injured as an "act of terror". Turkish officials said they believed a female Isis sympathiser was responsible. A local journalist reported that one witness said she had seen a young woman in a suicide vest. A second official also said that Isis appeared to have been responsible and that the attack was a "retaliation for the Turkish Government's efforts to fight terrorism".

Erdogan's Government has cracked down on Isis recruitment networks in recent weeks.

Before the suicide bomber struck, dozens of young Turkish and Kurdish men and women shared food around long tables at the cultural centre. A video was taken of activists holding the federation's flag and a large banner saying: "We defended it together, we are building it together". It was at that moment the explosion tore through the group. In the footage, survivors can be heard screaming as bodies lie strewn across the remains of the shattered table frames.

"I saw more than 20 bodies," said one witness. "It was a huge explosion, we all shook."

Fatma Edemen, 22, said: "One of my friends protected me. First I thought 'I am dying', but I was okay. I started to run after I saw the bodies," she said as she sought treatment for injuries to her legs. She said the group had believed Kobane was relatively safe. "Our friends went there and it didn't seem dangerous at that time. We couldn't even think something like that would happen," she said.