IS prime suspect in double suicide bombings: Turkey PM

The attack that killed 97, sparked anger over the authorities' failure to ensure security

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu today said the Islamic State (IS) extremist group was the prime suspect in the double suicide bombings in Ankara that killed 97 and sparked anger over the authorities' failure to ensure security.

In his first interview since Turkey was scarred Saturday by its deadliest ever attack, Davutoglu insisted that a snap election would go ahead as planned on November 1 despite the bloodshed.

The attack on a peace rally of leftist, labour and Kurdish activists ratcheted up tensions to new heights in Turkey as the government wages a relentless campaign against Kurdish militants and also battles IS jihadists.

"Looking at how the incident took place, we are probing Daesh as our first priority," Davutoglu told NTV television, using an alternative Arabic acronym for IS.

"We are close to a name (for one bomber). That name points to an organisation," he said.

Davutoglu however remained cautious, saying that authorities were also investigating the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) as "potential suspects".

But this sparked an angry reaction from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), which strongly disputes the official death toll and has released the names of 120 victims, claiming eight more have yet to be identified.

Turkey was long accused by its NATO allies of not taking a tougher line against IS as the group seized swathes of northern Iraq and Syria and battled Kurdish militias.

However after months of Western pressure, Turkey is now a full member of the US-led coalition against IS and allowing American jets to use its Incirlik air base for raids, making it possibly more vulnerable to attack.

With international concern growing over Turkey's stability, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Sunday to discuss Turkey and Syria, a spokesman said.

Grieving loved ones buried some of the victims in Ankara and Istanbul, as well as in cities in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, Monday in the first funerals.

HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas attended several of them.

Rallies in the wake of the bombings have been hugely critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with demonstrators chanting slogans like "Erdogan murderer" and accusing the government of failing to prevent the attacks.

"We lost many friends. But the government must know that we will not step back. We will continue to fight and will fight even harder," union activist Vassaf Turgut told AFP in Ankara.

But Davutoglu denied there had been any security or intelligence failure and dismissed fears Turkey could be facing civil war.

"This attack will not turn Turkey into Syria," he said.