Fingers are being pointed at Kurdish rebels, Islamic State militants and even the Turkish government after twin suicide bombings in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, on Sunday killed 97 and injured nearly 200.

Although no group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks yet, Turkey’s government has said ISIS or the rebels are most probably responsible for the blasts, which reportedly took place within seconds of each other.

However, the government is also a suspected target, with many mourners seeing its failure to ensure security as a sign of involvement in the bombings, and a bid to secure more nationalist votes for the country’s looming elections.

Thousands marched in Istanbul, Izmir, Batman and Diyarbakir after the explosions to protest against the state, including at at least one funeral for a victim in Istanbul.

“The state which gets information about the bird that flies and every flap of its wing, was not able to prevent a massacre in the heart of Ankara,” said Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP).

The first explosion took place at around 7am GMT (6pm AEST), and the second followed soon after at a peace rally near Ankara’s central train station organised by leftist groups, including the HDP. According to the ABC, the demonstration was a call for an end to the violence between government forces and separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.

“I heard one big explosion first and tried to cover myself as the windows broke. Right away there was the second one,” said 37-year-old Serdar, who worked at the train station.

“There was shouting and crying and I stayed under the newspapers for a while. I could smell burnt flesh.”

Work is now underway in identifying the corpses of the two male terrorists who carried out the bombings.

The foreign ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea and Australia (MIKTA) have released a statement condemning the bombings and “horrific loss of innocent life”. Turkey is a fellow MIKTA member.

“Terrorism is one of the major challenges of our time and we stand with the people of Turkey in solidarity as we face this common threat that knows no borders, respects no belief, and holds no respect for human rights,” MIKTA’s statement said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also extended condolences to Turkey in a statement, calling the attacks a “despicable act of cowardice”.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives,” he said.

Government rejects ceasefire

The PKK, as was expected beforehand, announced a unilateral ceasefire hours after the Ankara bombing, but this was rejected by the government and Turkish military have since mounted air strikes against the group in south-east Turkey and in northern Iraq.

According to security forces, at least 30 PKK guerillas were killed in raids on Sunday. A senior official told Reuters that the PKK ceasefire meant nothing to the government.

“The operations will continue without a break.”

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