CRI听力:Turkey in Mourning a Day after Twin Blasts Kill 97, Injure 246

AS part of 3-days of official national mourning, thousands have gathered in the city centre in Ankara to pay a silent tribute to those who died in the bombings on Saturday morning.

Tahsin Ayaz, a 44-year-old from Ankara, says she's devastated by the rising violence in the country.

"Yesterday I sat down and cried. I really cried while watching the news. It's so sad. No humanity, no emotion, just brutality. We are not different from Iraq and Syria anymore. It has become the same."

The twin blasts took place on Saturday morning near the central train station in Ankara as people gathered for a "peace march" organized by the country's major trade unions.

The rally itself was meant to demand an end to the violence between Kurdish militants and the Turkish government.

Tensions between the two-sides have escalated in recent months after peace talks broke down in July.

This has led to a number of similar insurgent attacks in Turkey.

But none of them reached the devastating scale of the latest bombings, which has left 97 people dead and 246 injured.

Around 50 of the injured are still in critical condition.

Turkish police says one of the bombers had been identified as a male between the ages of 25 and 30.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, following a meeting of his security officials, says they've narrowed the list of possible suspects to the Islamic State, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and two other local "leftist" organizations.

So far no group has claimed responsibility.

The deadly attack has come just a couple of weeks before people across Turkey prepare to vote in the national election on November 1st.

This has led to speculation the bombing could be politically motivated, as the rally was being organized by the left-wing opponents of the current administration.

However, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been quick to try to shoot down that theory.

"This attack does not target a single group or our citizens that attended the rally or a single political party. Let me be clear. This attack was carried out against our country and against all people. This attack was carried out against democracy."

The pro-Kurdish HDP party was among the groups attending the rally.

Its leader, Selahettin Demirtas, is calling on Kurdish supporters to remain calm.

"As those who are in favor of peace, we will win this. You can remain calm. We are in great pain and in great anger but we have the strength and the courage to bring them into account. All of them will be brought into account within the legal frame. We are facing a brazen massacre, not a covert one. This is the sequel of the attacks in Diyarbakir and Suruc. We will rise above these days together, hand in hand."

The HDP party has already decided to cancel all of its election rallies ahead of the November 1st vote.

The PKK has also declared a temporary ceasefire leading up to the election.

For CRI I'm Poornima Weerasekara