Ankara explosions: President Erdogan vows Turkey will stand in 'unity and solidarity' after terror attack

At least 86 people were killed and more than 180 injured when explosions hit a peace rally

(AFP/Getty Images)

The Turkish President has vowed that his country will stand in “unity and solidarity” after a terror attack killed at least 86 people in Ankara.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which came as hundreds of people gathered outside the capital’s main railway station for a peace rally.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned the “heinous attack” and said Turkey would not give in to efforts to sow division in society.

Calling for “solidarity and determination as the most meaningful response to terror”, the President added: “All units of the government are working to investigate this incident.

“I believe that the perpetrators will soon be revealed and brought to justice.”

The Interior Ministry said the explosions killed at least 86 people and wounded 186 more, and that authorities were investigating claims a suicide bomber was responsible.

Mr Erdogan compared Saturday morning’s bombing to previous attacks by Kurdish militants on Turkish police and security forces, although the group behind the Ankara explosions was unclear.

“No matter what its origin, aim or name, we are against any form of terrorist act or terrorist organisation,” he said.

“Like other acts of terror, the attack at Ankara Central Station is taking aim at our unity, brotherhood and future."

Violence between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has flared in recent months, with Turkey launching operations in response to what it said were rising attacks on security forces in the predominantly Kurdish south-east. Hundreds have since died.

The country has been on high alert since starting its “synchronised war on terror” in July, including air strikes against Isis in Syria and Kurdish fighters with the People’s Defence Force in northern Iraq.

It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected Kurdish and Islamist militants at home.

A Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighter guards a post flying the group's flag in the town of Makhmur, northern Iraq (Getty Images)

An HDP rally in Diyarbakir was bombed on the eve of the last election in June and a suicide blast blamed on Isis killed 33 mainly pro-Kurdish activists in the town of Suruc, near the Syrian border in the same month.

The PKK called on its fighters and supporters to stop guerrilla activities in Turkey and only fight if they were directly attacked in the wake of Saturday’s bombing.

Firat news agency reported the head of the PKK as saying the decision was taken in response to calls from within and outside Turkey and that its fighters would avoid acts which could prevent a “fair and just election” being held on 1 November.

The renewed conflict had raised questions over how a free and fair vote could be held in violence-hit areas but the government had insisted it would go ahead.

Additional reporting by agencies