Turkey's Erdogan condemns border town bombing as 'act of terror'

Ankara

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Monday's deadly bomb attack in a town near the border with Syria as an "act of terror."

"We are drowning in grief that 28 citizens died and a large number of people were injured as a result of an act of terror," Erdogan said during a visit to the Turkish breakaway state in northern Cyprus.

"On behalf of my people, I curse and condemn the perpetrators of this brutality."

The blast ripped through a cultural centre in Suruc, a town opposite the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane which was hit shortly afterwards by a suicide car bombing.

Turkish officials say the suicide attack was very likely to be the work of Islamic State (IS) militants who have made large gains in Iraq and Syria over the last year. If IS is proven responsible for the bombing, it would mark the group's first strike on Turkish soil.

"Terror must be condemned no matter where it comes from," Erdogan said, calling for an international fight against terrorism.