Bomb Rips Through Peace Demonstration in Ankara, Turkey

A bomb attack ripped through a crowd of demonstrators in the Turkish capital of Ankara as they marched in opposition to renewed violence between the Turkish government and a Kurdish militia.

Two explosions ripped through the crowd, killing at least 86 people and injuring dozens more, around 10:00 a.m local time as the protesters made their way through a square near a key train station, according to Reuters.

The rally was made up of members of the HDP, a political party representing Turkey's Kurds, as well as a large number of young leftists, who have flocked to the HDP in recent months, attracted by the young and charismatic HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas.

In the country's last elections in June, the HDP won a larger amount of the vote than was expected, dashing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dreams of rewriting the constitution. The country's political parties were unable to form a government in the ensuing months, and fresh elections are scheduled for Nov. 1.

The PKK, the Kurdish militant group, said that it would halt all of its activities against the Turkish government to restore some sense of calm to the trouble country in the lead up to the elections.

The PKK and government were in the midst of peace negotiations and both honored a ceasefire until this summer, when another bombing ripped through a similar demonstration in a southern border town.

The PKK claimed the government was responsible because the Islamic State was behind the attack, and in retaliation the PKK killed two police officers, setting off the current round of fighting.

Many international governments and politicians within Turkey, as well as media organizations, have documented Turkey's support for ISIS via arms supplies, medical care for its fighters in Turkish hospitals, and allowing fighters and supplies to freely transit the Turkish border with portions of Iraq and Syria ISIS controls.