Scores detained as Turkish police attack Kurdish commemoration

Ankara, Turkey (Kurdistan24) - Turkish police used truncheons, plastic bullets, tear gas and arrested at least 75 people in Ankara to prevent Kurdish and leftist activists from commemorating an Islamic State (IS) attack that killed more than 100 last year.

On October 10, 2015, two suspected IS suicide bombers blew themselves up in the middle of a Kurdish peace rally in central Ankara, killing at least 107 people and wounding 500 others before the snap elections in November.

The blast, with the highest number of casualties, is the worst attack on civilians in Turkey's history.

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas, Figen Yuksekdag and a number of MPs were among the victims' relatives, friends, and supporters who gathered to mourn reported Kurdistan 24 bureau in Ankara.

Many activists, some of whom found refuge in a nearby train station and HDP co-chairs, as well as representatives from worker unions were visibly affected by the teargas, as police tried to block families from reaching the scene of the bombings.

Turkish authorities have been empowered by government decrees to ban all protests and assemblies under a state of emergency imposed in the aftermath of the failed July 15 military coup attempt.

Police had last year attacked the survivors of the IS bombing, again using tear gas and truncheons.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, Demirtas accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being complicit in last year's attack and said the government could stand on its feet "through relying on oppression and fear."

"Times will change and we will be able to honor our martyrs in hundreds of thousands here, we will also build a monument in their remembrance," said Demirtas according to remarks published on the HDP website.

"Progressives will defeat this rapist, barbarian army that is struggling to take over the Middle East," continued Demirtas referring to the IS that Kurdish forces are battling in Iraq and Syria.

Editing by Ava Homa