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Turkey has begun a three-day period of mourning following Saturday's bomb attacks in the capital, Ankara, that killed nearly 100 people. With contentious parliamentary elections three weeks away, the attacks highlight the challenges Turkey is facing as it struggles with ethnic friction, an ongoing migrant crisis, and growing tensions with Russia. To avoid fueling even more tension, Turkey's government imposed a media blackout banning these images of the moment the two bombs exploded at a rally in which Kurds and progressives for called for equality and peace. By the pre-dawn hours Sunday, after the dead and injured had been carried away, the investigation continued into who carried out the massacre and why. After the bombing, protests including this one in Istanbul. "Those who try to mute people's will have launched a war and what happened in Ankara was another front line," said Levent Altun, a prostester in Istanbul. "People were saying no to war and persisting in their calls for peace and they tried to silence them with bombs. So we are here, shouting them back, telling them people will not be deterred by their bombs." Russian reaction Across Europe, leaders condemned the attacks, and NATO is pledging to stand united in the fight against terrorism. The growing instability in Turkey is another headache for the alliance. Turkey is a NATO member, and last week the alliance pledged to support the country in the face of incursions by Russian warplanes into its air space. | 
