Note from the Editor: At the time of publication, official death and injury tolls from the Ankara bombings were still being released. OCA acknowledges that numbers may have changed, and more information may be released. On behalf of the OCA staff, we would like to send out our hopes and thoughts to the victims and their families. For those in the NYU Shanghai community, if you are experiencing any distress, please contact Health and Wellness on 2059 9999.Turkey has entered into a period of national mourning following the terrorist attack on a peace rally in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Saturday morning. A group of approximately 14,000 people had gathered to participate in the demonstration until the simultaneous blasts went off close to the city’s main train station.As of early Sunday morning, 96 people were confirmed dead and over 400 were injured and undergoing treatment; the attack was the largest and most fatal terrorist attack in Turkish history.The peace rally was organized to protest the ongoing unrest in Eastern Turkey between the Turkish government and thePKK (a Kurdish separatist group).Although the Turkish government has not identified any perpetrators as of yet, they suspect that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers. Governments and media across the world have speculated that the suicide bombers could be connected either to ISIS terrorist groups or the PKK.However, within Turkey, there has been criticism of the nation’s current government and specifically the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Davutoğlu rose to power in 2014 and leads the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the weeks before the attack, the AKP attacked the PKK, which inflamed political tensions between pro-Kurdish citizens and the government.A Turkish NYU Shanghai student criticized the Turkish government for their response to the massacre, which included a police blockade and restricted public access to social media following the bombings.“The Turkish government has been increasingly oppressive over the last couple years,” the student commented. “[They have not] taken responsibility or investigated any of the massacres that have been happening in the country.”Other fatal demonstrations were the Gezi Park Protests of 2014, where Turkish police forces used excessive force in the attempt to control the peace protests.In the same way, Saturday’s massacre saw a police blockade: people were trapped in the explosion area, and ambulances and medical personnel were unable to push through. Another sign of government involvement was the fact that social media sites, such as Twitter, were shut down following the explosions. “These are all signs of desperate fear: [the AKP] are scared they will lose their authority,” the student explained. Since 2001, the AKP has experienced great opposition from the public but have not yet been voted out of power.The student, whose sister’s friends were at the site of the rally, argued that the government is “clearly driving the country into a state of civil war,” and even from afar she feels the sense of ongoing panic and terror that has tormented her country for several years. “It is extremely painful to watch these events happen. I am constantly worried about the well-being of my loved ones back home.” This article was written by Isabella Farr. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit:Darwinek, Wikimedia Commons