Three senior Turkish security officials sacked after Ankara bombings

The Turkish Interior Ministry said in a late Tuesday statement that Ankara police chief Kadri Kartal and the heads of the security and intelligence departments were fired as the government tries to conduct an investigation into the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country’s recent history.
 
According to the statement, Ahmet Hakan Arikan was appointed Ankara’s new police chief.
 
The October 10 explosions targeted a number of activists who had convened outside Ankara’s main train station for a peace rally organized by leftist and pro-Kurdish opposition groups. The Turkish government says 97 died in the bombings, but the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) puts the death toll at 128.
 
Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions, the government has pointed to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group as the prime suspect behind the blasts, which also injured more than 500 others.
 
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that two bombers, each of whom using some five kilograms of TNT explosives, carried out the attacks by detonating their explosive belts.
 
The bombings have escalated political tensions as Turkey prepares for snap elections on November 1.