Bombs Explode at Kurdish Political Rally in Turkey

Bombs exploded at an opposition party's political rally in Turkey, just two days before national parliamentary elections that could determine the country's future.

Reuters reports that the bombs claimed two lives and injured more than 200 others, some seriously. The bombs were inside of a trashcan and near a power generator at the site of the rally. They were said to have been filled with nails, ball bearings, and other pieces of shrapnel in an effort to create as much carnage as possible.

At least one person seen by a Reuters correspondent lost a leg. One of the victims was a 16-year-old boy.

The attack targeted the People's Democratic Party (HDP), which is pro-Kurdish. The Kurds waged a bloody campaign of terrorism and attacks on the military and police for decades until a ceasefire was reached in 2013.

The attack took place in Diyarbakir, which is the largest Kurdish city in Turkey. The HDP's charismatic young leader Selahattin Demirtas appealed for calm after the attacks. The fact there was not a series of violent reprisals in the immediate aftermath of the bombing suggests that the call has worked.

Kurds throughout the country did express their displeasure with protests.

The AKP government has used the attack as pretext to arrest Kurdish activists just days before the election. The HDP is the biggest threat to the AKP's plans to rewrite the constitution.

The AKP's dictatorial leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to dismantle the parliamentary system and establish a presidential system in its place. If the HDP is able to pass the 10 percent threshold needed for parliamentary representation, the plan to rewrite the constitution is doomed.

Many in Turkey will ultimately perceive the bombings as an effort by the AKP to provoke a violent Kurdish reaction in the hopes of damaging the HDP's chances at the polls Sunday, June 7.