Turkish PM on the defensive over charges of failure in Ankara massacre

Insistent accusations from opposition leaders over a security failure leading up to the Oct. 10 double suicide bomb attack in Ankara have put Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu on the defensive, as he accused the main opposition leader of not lending support to the interim government.

Davuto?lu fiercely ruled out arguments the government "knowingly ignored fulfilling whatever [security measures] were required" in the run up to the attack which killed at least 102 people, dubbing such a claim as "lacking conscience and unreasonable."

"Other political leaders may also serve as prime minister tomorrow. I am saying this for all prime ministers of the Republic of Turkey: No prime minister and no governmental official would avoid taking measures against a terror organization which they knew would commit a crime," Davuto?lu told reporters on Oct. 21.

His remarks came as an apparent response to Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu, who openly and directly accused the caretaker of the interim government, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), of providing "protection" for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), thus paving the way for the Oct. 10 Ankara massacre.

"How did 102 people die? The prime minister confessed that no [security] measure had been taken. Here is my conviction: Actually, the police department knows all about it. Shouldn't a person who is already wiretapped be tracked?" K?l?çdaro?lu asked in an interview with Samanyolu Haber TV channel late on Oct. 19, while reiterating his conviction that a serious security failure had led to the attack.

According to Davuto?lu, K?l?çdaro?lu now has to give a clear answer for his party's refusal to take part in the interim government formed by...