‘Child ISIS bomber’ blows up 51 at Turkish wedding

A man reacts next to the coffin of a victim from the attack on a wedding party that left at least 51 dead in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. (Photo: AFP)

A suicide bomber as young as 12 killed at least 51 people at a wedding in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, pointing the finger at the Islamic State group.

Erdogan said Saturday’s blast in Gaziantep near the Syria border “was the result of a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 who either detonated (the bomb) or others detonated it.”

The explosion was the latest attack to rock the key NATO member in a horrific year that has seen strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants as well as a bloody July 15 botched coup.

The president said the Islamic State group was the “likely perpetrator” of the bomb attack, the deadliest in 2016, that targeted a celebration attended by many Kurds.

The remains of a suicide vest were found at the scene, the chief prosecutor's office said Sunday according to broadcaster CNN-Turk.

Gulser Ates, one of scores wounded in the attack, told Hurriyet the attack took place as the party was breaking up.

“We were sitting on chairs, having a chat with one of our neighbours.

“During the explosion, the neighbour died on top of me. I remember being underneath. If my neighbour hadn't fallen on top of me, I would have died,” she said.

The bride and groom — Besna and Nurettin Akdogan — were rushed to hospital but were not seriously wounded.

According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, the bride was released from hospital, saying as she left: “They turned our wedding into a bloodbath.”

Meanwhile, images on broadcaster CNN-Turk showed rows of coffins covered in white sheets.

Crowds of mourners gathered to pray and chants of Allahu Akbar (“God is greatest”) could be heard.

Erdogan told reporters that 94 were also hurt in the attack. A total of 69 people remained in hospital, with 17 in critical condition.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said its members had been present at the wedding, also attended by many women and children.

Erdogan said such attacks aimed to sow division between Turkey’s different groups including Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and to “spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines”.

A defiant Erdogan said there was “no difference” between US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen — whom he blames for the failed coup bid — the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and Daesh (ISIS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep”.

“Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us -- you will not succeed!” he said.