The Suruç bombing was a suicide attack by the Turkish sect of Islamic State named Dokumacılar against Turkish leftists that took place in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey on 20 July 2015, outside the Amara Culture Centre. A total of 34 people were killed (including the perpetrator) and 104 were reported injured. Most victims were members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Youth Wing and the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), university students who were giving a press statement on their planned trip to reconstruct the Syrian border town of Kobanî.
Kobanî, which is approximately 10 km from Suruç, had been under siege by Islamic State forces until January 2015. More than 300 members of the SGDF had travelled from İstanbul to Suruç to participate in three to four days of rebuilding work in Kobanî, and had been staying at the Amara Cultural Centre while preparing to cross the border. The explosion was caught on camera.
The Islamic State (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack the following day. ISIL had allegedly made the decision to pursue more active operations in Turkey just days before the attack. The attacker, Şeyh Abdurrahman Alagöz (20), a Kurd from Adıyaman, reportedly had links to Islamic State militants. Both the Turkish government and police were accused of turning a blind eye to ISIL activities as part of their collaboration with ISIL and failing to give leftist and Kurdish gatherings the proper law enforcement protection given to other gatherings. Two Turkish police officers were subsequently prosecuted over the bombing. It was possibly the first planned attack by ISIL in Turkey, although previous incidents such as the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings, the 2015 Istanbul suicide bombing, and the 2015 Diyarbakır rally bombings have also been blamed by some on ISIL. Soon after, the Turkish government launched Operation Martyr Yalçın, a series of airstrikes against mostly Kurdish militant positions in Northern Iraq and Syria. Large-scale operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but including some ISIL targets, began on 24 July; however, most arrests were of PKK members. This led to the resumption of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict (2015-present).
The bombing was met with international condemnation by a variety of organizations, as well as promises by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) to tighten the Syria-Turkey border following the attack. The leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli criticized the government for not securing the border beforehand and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) for endorsing the intended crossing of the victims to Syria despite the Kobanî massacre.
Background
The district of Suruç is located on the Syrian-Turkish border in the province of Şanlıurfa, approximately from the Syrian town of Kobanî. The populations of both Suruç and Kobanî are mostly Kurds, with the cultural ties between the two having resulted in deadly riots in south-eastern Turkey in October 2014 when Kobanî was under siege by Islamic State militants. The riots had mainly protested the Turkish government's lack of intervention in Kobanî against ISIL. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed he was not prepared to launch operations against ISIL unless it was also against the forces of Bashar Al Assad. Furthermore, allegations of covert funding and the arming of ISIL by the Turkish government, which came under particular scrutiny following the 2014 MİT lorries scandal, also caused heavy controversy.
The Siege of Kobanî (2014–15)
Kobanî was retaken from ISIL forces in late January 2015, with the Kurdish nationalist People's Protection Units (YPG) taking full control of the city. ISIL vowed to return, committing a series of massacres in the city in June 2015. The Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) of Turkey requested permission to cross the border and participate in the reconstruction of the war-torn city.
Turkish invasion threats
During late June and early July 2015, the Turkish and Jordanian governments made threats to invade Syria and set up buffer zones.
Explosion
Perceived targets
The bombing appeared to target members of the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), the Youth Wing of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), of which 300 members had travelled to Suruç from İstanbul in order to cross the border into Kobanî to take part in reconstruction projects there. The members were staying at the Amara Culture Centre and were giving a press statement on the reconstruction of Kobanî when the bombings took place. Shortly after the bombing in Suruç, there was an explosion at an old mortar warehouse in Kobanî.