A TERRORIST bomb attack in southern Turkey killed at least 30 members of a socialist youth organisation yesterday.

The attack in the southern city of Suruc in Urfa district targeted a gathering of 300 Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) members from Istanbul, the ANF news agency reported.

The SGDF was holding a press conference in the garden of the Amara Cultural Centre, before leaving for the nearby city of Kobane in northern Syria to help with reconstruction, when the bomb detonated.

Party of Democratic Regions (DBP) Urfa co-chairman Ismail Kaplan said that the explosion had been caused by a suicide bomber.

The garden was turned into a a bloodbath with young people’s bodies scattered around, some torn to pieces.

Suruc’s hospital appealed for blood donations in the wake of the atrocity.

Fatma Edemen said: “One of my friends protected me. First, I thought: ‘I am dying,’ but I was OK. I started to run after I saw the bodies.”

Ms Edeman said that she and her comrades had expected Kobane to be relatively safe.

“Our friends went there and it didn’t seem dangerous at that time. We couldn’t even think something like that would happen,” she said.

In Kobane, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia stopped a car bomb attack on a checkpoint near a school.
The Islamic State group was suspected of carrying out both attacks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “I personally and on behalf of my nation condemn and curse those who perpetrated this savagery.”