Turkey wedding bomber was 12-14 years old, Erdogan says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 was responsible for the attack on a wedding in the Turkish city of Gaziantep that killed at least 50.

“The explosion was the result of a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 who either detonated (the bomb) or others detonated it,” Erdogan said during a press conference from Istanbul. He repeated his assertion that initial information suggested the attack was perpetrated by the Islamic State group.

At least 50 people were killed and dozens of others wounded in the attack late Saturday in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.

Erdogan said the IS extremist group was the “likely perpetrator” of the bomb attack, the deadliest in 2016, in Gaziantep late Saturday that targeted a celebration attended by many Kurds.

“It was clear that Daesh had such an organization in Gaziantep or was attempting to make room for itself in recent times,” Erdogan said, using an alternative acronym for IS. “Many intensive operations were conducted, are being conducted. Of course our security forces will be conducting these operations with even greater intensity.”

The remains of a suicide vest were found at the scene, the chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Sunday, broadcaster CNN-Turk reported.

The explosion was the latest attack to rock the key NATO member in a horrific year that has seen strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants as well as a bloody July 15 botched coup.

Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement that 50 people had been killed, raising a previous toll of 30. He had previously said 94 were wounded in what he described as an “abhorrent terror bomb attack on a wedding.”

Erdogan said in a statement there was “no difference” between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom he blames for the failed coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep.”

“Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us — you will not succeed!” he said.

World leaders quickly condemned the attack including French President Francois Hollande who denounced the “vile” incident.

“France stands with all who fight against the scourge of terrorism,” the presidency said in a statement.

The US ambassador to Turkey John Bass condemned the “barbaric attack on innocent civilians,” adding that Washington would “continue to work closely together to defeat the common threat of terrorism” in a statement shared on the official US embassy in Turkey Twitter account.

The Hurriyet daily said the bride and groom — Besna and Nurettin Akdogan — were in hospital but their lives were not in danger. The groom’s sister and uncle were among the dead, the state run-Anadolu Agency reported.

A bus driver who shuttled some of the guests from Siirt to Gaziantep said that he couldn’t believe the party was targeted.

“This was a wedding party. Just a regular wedding party,” Hamdullah Ceyhan told Anadolu. “This attack was deplorable. How did they do such a thing?”

Erdogan said the aim of such attacks was to sow division between different groups in Turkey including Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and to “spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines.”

Earlier this week, a string of bombings blamed on the PKK that targeted police and soldiers killed at least a dozen people. A fragile, 2 ½ yearlong peace process between the PKK and the government collapsed last year, leading to a resumption of the three-decade-long conflict.

In Gaziantep, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and the country’s health minister visited the wounded and inspected the site of the attack.

“This is a massacre of unprecedented cruelty and barbarism,” he told reporters. “We … are united against all terror organizations. They will not yield.”

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the bombing, which he said turned “a wedding party into a place of mourning” and he vowed to prevail over the “devilish” attacks.

Opposition parties have also denounced the attack. The main opposition Republican People’s Party will be holding an emergency meeting in the late afternoon and a delegation was being sent to Gaziantep by the Nationalist Movement Party. Supporters of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party will be holding a protest against the attack in Istanbul.