4 killed, 184 injured in blasts in Turkey

Medical sources in Diyarbakir said that about 184 people were hospitalized after wounded in the At least four explosions ahead of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) rally in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir, local media reported. The rally was later cancelled but a large group of youths remained at the site, protesting the explosions, as live video by Turkish television showed. Some threw stones at a police water canon that moved in to disperse the crowd, Xinhua reports. HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas called the supporters to calm down after the explosions, "Whatever the cause of the blast, I am calling on the people of Diyarbakir to keep calm," he said. Several reports earlier blamed the blast on a faulty electrical transformer at the rally site, but Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz ruled out the possibility, saying "There was an external intervention to the power distribution unit." Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also vowed to catch any perpetrators. "We will look into whether it is a power distribution unit explosion or an assassination attempt, or any kind of provocation, and we will announce the result as soon as possible." The blast occurred at around 18:00 local time (1500 GMT) , At least four days ahead of the country's parliamentary elections, when thousands of supporters rallied at the Diyarbakir's station square to hear HDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtas's address. It was not the first time the HDP had come under attack ahead of Sunday's elections. Unidentified assailants fired on a campaign minibus of HDP on Wednesday. Seven people were injured in simultaneous explosions at At least four HDP headquarters in southern Adana and Mersin provinces on May 18. Turkey is scheduled to hold the 25th parliamentary elections on Sunday. Recent polls showed that the HDP was hopeful to get 10 percent votes, the threshold required to enter parliament.