Turkish Press Review

ISTANBUL

Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Turkish dailies’ coverage on Wednesday continued to be dominated by Monday’s deadly bomb attack in southeastern Turkey.

“Here is the attacker,” was CUMHURIYET’s headline, reporting that the suicide bomber – identified as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz – joined Daesh six months ago. The daily also published the attacker’s photograph and a copy of his Turkish identity card.

Speaking to VATAN, Alagoz’s mother, Semure, said her son left home in order to go to a foreign country six months ago, adding that his older brother followed shortly afterwards.

“He [Seyh Abdurrahman] was around 10 days ago. Even the police asked for him. I do not know whether they joined Daesh or not. Both of them are good boys,” the mother said.

Thirty-two people were killed and over 100 were wounded in an explosion in southern Sanliurfa province on Monday.

The blast in a community center in Suruc, a town close to the Syrian border, reportedly targeted activists who planned to visit the Syrian town of Kobani to help rebuild it after it was devastated by fighting between Kurdish forces and Daesh.

YENI SAFAK claimed Seyh Abdurrahman was linked with, Orhan G. – a Turk charged with bombing a pro-Kurdish party rally in Diyarbakir shortly before Turkey’s June 7 general election.

That bomb went off during an election rally being held by the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, on June 5, killing four people.

HURRIYET said Monday’s attackers used a similar type of bomb to the device used in Diyarbakir. The daily also claimed there was a second suicide bomber during the Suruc attack. Police found an unexploded hand grenade at scene, it wrote.

SABAH reported that Turkish officials have declared “total war” on Daesh. The daily said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chaired a security summit in Ankara following the deadly explosion in Suruc.

Officials have decided to neutralize Daesh’s network in the country, according to the daily. Also, Turkish officials will bring down the terrorist organization’s financial network and will chase down Daesh sympathizers, it wrote.

On political level, Davutoglu said Turkey could defeat terror if it remained united, according to YENI SAFAK. The daily also reported that Davutoglu reacted to allegations raised by the HDP that Turkey has supported Daesh in the past.

“It is enough that you defiled politics with blood,” Davutoglu said on his Twitter account.

MILLIYET reported that presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also denounced the HDP’s allegation, called it “fiction”.

Selahattin Demirtas, the co-chair of the Kurdish party, warned that there could be a second attack at any moment, according to MILLIYET. “They [Daesh] have no sense. There could be a second attack any moment. There has been a weakness in [security] intelligence,” Demirtas said.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party has filed a motion to the Turkish parliament, asking it to investigate Daesh and its purported network in the country.

Meanwhile, most Turkish dailies continued to cover the stories of the dozens of young people murdered in the deadly attack.

“The heaviest pain,” was HURRIYET’s headline, printing a photograph showing a group of women carrying a coffin. The daily said out of the 32 people, four others’ identities had not yet been determined, adding that officials believe two of them are the suicide bombers.

“Turkey cried,” was MILLIYET’s headline, saying that the victims’ bodies had been handed over to their families. “Families hug coffins and cry,” the daily reported.

“A day of sorrow,” was YENI SAFAK’s headline, reporting that families were shedding tears for their loved ones.