(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Turkish authorities have identified a suspect over the suicide bombing close to Turkey's border with Syria that left 32 activists dead, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.
"One suspect has been identified. All the (suspect's) links internationally and domestically are being investigated," he said in televised comments.
He added there was a "high probability" the attack was caused by a suicide bomber with connections to Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
"We expect this investigation to be concluded as soon as possible," Davutoglu added.
Davutoglu said that the death toll had risen to 32 from 31 and added that 29 victims were still hospitalised.
"What's necessary will be done against whomever responsible for (the attack)," said Davutoglu. "Nobody should ever doubt this."
"This is an attack that targeted Turkey," he added.
Davutoglu meanwhile said a cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday would look at additional security measures for Turkey's border with Syria.
"We will also discuss an action plan about additional security measures to be taken on our border at the cabinet meeting and will take necessary measures."
He vehemently denied suggestions from some commentators that Turkey and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had encouraged IS jihadists in the past.
"Turkey and AK Party governments have never had any direct or indirect connection with any terrorist organisation and never tolerated any terrorist group," he said.
Monday's attack in a town on the border with Syria was one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years and the first time the government has directly accused the IS group of carrying out an act of terror on Turkish soil.
Graphic images of the attack in Suruc shocked the country, with the press publishing front page photos of the mutilated corpses of pro-Kurdish activists lying on the ground covered in pages from broadsheet newspapers.
The blast ripped through a cultural centre in Suruc hosting about 300 socialist youth activists and most of the 32 dead and about 100 wounded were university students.
Rebuilding mission
The activists had arrived in the mainly Kurdish town to take part in a rebuilding mission for the flashpoint Syrian town of Kobane just over the border, which Kurdish forces had retaken from IS earlier this year.
Hundreds of pro-Kurdish activists took to the streets of Turkish cities on Monday night to protest against the attacks and government policy on Syria, with police in Istanbul using water cannon to disperse the rally.
Dozens of people were killed in October in nationwide protests across Turkey against the government's perceived lack of support for Kurds battling IS jihadists.
The IS group, which has claimed swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq right up to the Turkish border, has so far not claimed the attack.
Turkey has long been accused by its Western partners of not doing enough to halt the rise of IS and even colluding with the group, allegations it vehemently denies.
But Ankara has in the last weeks appeared to take a harder line against the group, rounding up dozens of suspected members in Istanbul and other cities.
"Turkey has always taken measures against Daesh and similar kind of organisations," said Davutoglu, using a pejorative Arabic acronym for IS.
"Daesh threatens not only Syrian people but also Turkey," he added.
Nato member Turkey's main aim in the Syria conflict has been the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad and containment of pro-Kurdish groups and, so far, is yet to play a full role in the coalition against IS.
Deputy Prime Minister Nurman Kurtulmus confirmed that the toll stood at 31, with 32 people were still being treated for their injuries, mostly in hospitals in the regional centre of Sanliurfa.
In televised comments, Kurtulmus said five corpses of the victims had already been handed over to their families.
"We must show a common stand against terror," Kurtulmus said.
Kurtulmus said there were "big suspicions" over the identity of the bomber but said full information would only be given once the identity was certain.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack, saying Monday: "I curse and condemn the perpetrators of this brutality."
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