At least 31 dead in suspected ISIL suicide bombing in Turkey's border with Syria

An explosion has killed at least 31 in a municipal culture center in the southeastern province of ?anl?urfa's Suruç district, as scores of people have been hospitalized.

"We are concerned that the number of death will increase. The perpetrators will soon be found and put on trial," Turkey's interior minister said in a statement on July 20.

Upon his arrival in ?anl?urfa, Interior Minister Sebahattin Öztürk announced that the death toll was 30. "We believe that it is a suicide bomb attack. No name has yet been designated concerning identity of the suicide bomber," Öztürk also said.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu? confirmed late July 20 that the death toll reached to 31.

There is speculation that the blast was caused by a 18-year-old female suicide bomber from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"We will not only condemn this attack but we will also find those responsible and bring them to justice. This attack targeted peace, democracy and public order in Turkey," said Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu in a press conference in Ankara.

Davuto?lu confirmed ISIL was the prime suspect, adding that 43 people, 9 of them with serious injuries, were hospitalized after the attack. He also called on all political parties to come together and issue a joint statement condemning terrorism.

Kobane event of socialist youths targeted

At least 300 members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) were staying at the Amara Culture Center as part of a summer expedition to help rebuild Kobane, which lies directly across the border from Suruç.

The culture center, which is run by the Suruç Municipality under the control of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), frequently hosts...