‘Ankara attack aimed to tip Turkey over the edge’

ANKARA: The perpetrators of the worst attack in Turkey’s modern history appear intent on seeking to throw the country into chaos by provoking already explosive existing tensions, analysts say.
The twin blasts carried out by suspected suicide bombers on Saturday ripped through a gathering of leftist and pro-Kurdish activists outside Ankara’s main train station, killing at least 97 people.
The rally, backed by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and other left-wing groups, had been called to demand peace as the government wages a relentless assault against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Islamic State extremist group was the prime suspect in the attack, although the authorities have yet to give specific conclusions.
The attack came as Turkey battles both IS and the PKK -- two groups who are themselves bitterly opposed -- in its biggest recent security crisis with the risk of spillover from the Syria conflict looming large.
Analysts say that whoever actually carried out the attack, they appear alarmingly determined to exploit the current tensions to create a major confrontation.
In the aftermath of the attack, Kurds accused the government of responsibility, pro-government media alleged the PKK was to blame and thousands took to the streets in protest.
"I think with the attack the perpetrators are hoping to induce the PKK, or its rogue and more radical youth elements, to continue fighting in Turkey," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Programme at The Washington Institute.