Ankara bombing suspects formerly probed, cleared of al-Qaeda links

The two suspects over the deadly Oct. 10 suicide bombings in Ankara had previously been probed by Turkish prosecutors for alleged links to al-Qaeda, but the investigation was closed down, news website Radikal has reported.

Ömer Deniz Dündar and his twin brother Mahmut Gazi Dündar were reportedly probed last year on charges of having links to al-Qaeda, but the investigation launched by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in the southeastern province of Ad?yaman was closed. The probe was halted despite the testimony of Mehmet Dündar, the father of the twins, that they had gone to Syria to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists.

The father said on Sept. 30, 2013 in his testimony that his sons had gone to Syria to join jihadists before coming back to Ad?yaman. 

After staying for two months in Ad?yaman, the two then returned to Syria at the same time as the Ad?yaman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office started the investigation into 19 suspects - including the two Ankara bombing suspects and ?eyh Abdurrahman Alagöz, the suspect implicated in the Suruç bombing - on charges of having links to al-Qaeda.

Alagöz's last name was stated as "Dündar" in the indictment.

The indictment stated also that the two Ankara bombing suspects had a phone conversation with Salih Küçükta?, one of the 19 suspects, on Dec. 3, 2013, which suggested that the Dündar brothers had been to Syria on multiple occasions.

The deadly Ankara blasts killed at least 100 civilians and wounded hundreds of others on Oct. 10 ahead of a peace-themed demonstration at the heart of the Turkish capital.

The town of Ad?yaman has become notorious in Turkey as a site of radicalism among poor youths. Last year, the Ad?yaman Chief Public...