ISTANBUL — A child suicide bomber killed at least 51 people and wounded nearly 70 others at a Kurdish wedding party near Turkey’s border with Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, decrying the attack as an apparent attempt by Islamic State extremists to destabilize the nation by exploiting ethnic and religious tensions.
“As of now, the preliminary conclusions by our governor’s office and the police establishment point to an attack by Daesh,” Erdogan said, using another common term for the Islamic State group.
“It was clear that Daesh had such an organization in Gaziantep or was attempting to make room for itself in recent times,” he said.
The bombing late Saturday in Gaziantep was the deadliest attack in Turkey this year.
It comes amid ongoing struggles between the government and Kurdish militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, and as the country is still reeling from the aftermath of last month’s failed coup attempt, which the government has blamed on U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers.
Erdogan said immediately after the Gaziantep attack, which he blamed on the Islamic State group, that any strategy “meant to incite the citizens against each other along ethnic and religious lines will not work.”
Later, addressing the nation before Istanbul’s city hall, Erdogan said the attacker in Gaziantep was aged between 12 and 14. He said 69 people were wounded, with 17 of them in critical condition. He again blamed the attack on the Islamic State, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The pro-Kurdish political party HDP condemned the attack on the wedding, which it said was attended by many of its party members.
It said in a statement that it was “quite significant” that the attack, which it also blamed on the Iskanuc State, came hours after the Kurdistan Communities Union, a militant organization that includes the PKK, announced plans to try to negotiate to end a three-decade conflict between Kurdish militants and the Turkish government.
“This attack targets those determined and persistent in peace, resolution, and those struggling for democracy, equality, freedom and justice,” the HDP said. “The attack was planned to disable the spread of peace and success of possible negotiations.”
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 the state-run Anadolu Agency. “This attack was deplorable. How did they do such a thing?”
The bride and groom weren’t in life-threatening condition and were undergoing treatment, but the groom’s sister and uncle were among the dead, Anadolu reported.
Multiple opposition parties denounced the attack, as did many foreign governments including the U.S., Germany, Austria, Russia, Egypt, Sweden, Greece, France, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan and global institutions including the United Nations, the European Union and NATO.
“We stand by our ally Turkey and pledge to continue to work closely together to defeat the common threat of terrorism,” said U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass.
In the Vatican, Pope Francis led hundreds of people in silent prayer for the victims of the attack, concluding by asking “for the gift of peace for everyone.”
The suicide bombing follows a June attack on Istanbul’s main airport where Islamic State suspects killed 44 people.
