Suruc victims’ bodies moved to Gaziantep amid clashes

SURUC, Turkey — Inspections at the explosion site of a Monday bomb attack in the heavily Kurdish Turkish city of Suruc have been completed, and the bodies of the victims are being transported to the forensic hospital in Gaziantep for identification.

Scuffles took place among police and citizens waiting in front of the explosion site at the cultural center of the Socialist Students Federation during the transportation of the bodies.

“Vengeance PKK!”, “Erdogan is a Killer!” and “Martyrs are immortal!” slogans were repeated by the crowd near the explosion site.

The relatives of the victims rushed to Suruc, while the survivors prepared to head back to Istanbul.

“We are grieving the loss of our friends,” said Utku Caybasli, a member of the cultural center, in comments to Rudaw.

“There were guests from all parts of Kurdistan and Turkey. They reached Suruc at 6 am,” he continued.

“We were preparing for a press conference, but the explosion and the scenes of blood and gore made the people flee to different directions. We were afraid of a second explosion that’s why we ran away,” Caybasli said.