TURKISH trade unions called a two-day general strike yesterday in protest at Saturday’s Ankara peace-march bombing.

Thousands demonstrated in the capital, blaming the government for the massacre, as funerals were held for many victims.
The strike by the four unions that organised Saturday’s protest will end today.

“To protest against the fascist massacre and to commemorate the death of our friends, we are now in mourning for three days,” the unions said in a joint statement.

The group comprises the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK), the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DSK), the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB).

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a major participant in the demonstration, supported the strike.

“We should unrelentingly show every day and in every place to those who tried to silence the people who gathered in Ankara for peace, that the voice of life and peace will not keep quiet,” it said in a statement.

While the official death toll from the double bombing had risen to 97 by yesterday, the HDP put the true figure at 128.

The Peace and Development Party (AKP) government has claimed that the attacks were carried out by two suicide bombers, possibly from Islamic State (Isis).

But in an open letter to the international community, HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag blamed the AKP for the massacre.

They said: “The AKP’s policy of relying on radical groups as proxies, which began with President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s support of such groups as Isis, al-Nusra, and Ahrar al-Sham is at the heart of today’s tragedy.”

They also accused Mr Erdogan of reigniting the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to win votes in coming elections.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denied the accusations and repeated his claims that the PKK may have been behind the attack.

“There was general intelligence that Daesh (Isis) especially and certain teams of the PKK in northern Iraq, teams calling themselves the ‘immortals,’ were being prepared,” he said.

The Turkish air force bombed PKK positions in Iraq hours after the Ankara attack despite the group honouring its offer of a ceasefire.