In interviews with Sputnik, those who lost their relatives during the attack touched upon the horrendous details of the bombing which changed their lives forever in a day.
The explosion claimed the lives of the four children of Emine Ayhan, whose husband remains in serious condition in intensive care. She told Sputnik that it was the wedding of one of her close relatives and that at first she thought that it was a fireworks volley.
"I ran out of the house and saw a lot of bodies lying on the ground. I rushed to look for my children but they were dead. At that moment, I had a nervous breakdown and if it hadn't been for my fifth child, who managed to survive, I would have committed suicide because this pain is impossible to endure," she said.
48-year-old Gule Bayhan, whose daughter, uncle and cousins were killed in the Gaziantep bombing, told Sputnik that when the explosion took place, they were inside the house.
"We ran into the garden and saw the dead and wounded everywhere. It was terrible, and I was unable to find my daughter. I went to the hospital, where they told me that she and my uncle were dead. That night I lost my eight relatives," she said, adding that those who committed this crime should be found and brought to court.
Halima Alparslan, who lost her 13-year-old son, could not hold back her tears when speaking to Sputnik.
"I carried my son to the hospital, where doctors initially said he was seriously wounded, but later said that he had died. This is the end, and life has no more sense for me," she said, blaming the bomber for killing innocent children.
Four-year-old Semanur Ayhan was rushed to hospital with a wound to her feet and hands. Although the girl has yet to recover from shock, she managed to tell Sputnik about the details of the tragedy.
She said that during the wedding, she was playing with her friends in the garden when suddenly they heard a loud explosion. She said that she began to cry and call for her mother, who finally took her to the hospital.
"My leg still hurts and I feel sad and scared here. I want to recover as soon as possible to return home and see my sister and brothers. I'm missing my mother very much," Ayhan said, adding that her brothers and sisters were also injured in the explosion.
Meanwhile, Bektas Sharkli, President of the Lawyers Association of Gaziantep, told Sputnik that Turkey's south-east has already turned into the epicenter of a jihadist threat, likening Gaziantep to Pakistan.
He said that they had repeatedly tried to draw the authorities' attention to the growing threat of Daesh in the region but no appropriate measures had been taken, including those in the field of intelligence sharing.
He added that the current situation in Turkey is regrettably very similar and that "Ankara indirectly provided logistical support for hostilities in Syria, where it should have never been involved." This is why it is safe to assume that it is only natural that Gaziantep was hit by the suicide blast, he concluded, warning against opening the borders and neglecting border security so as to contain a terrorist threat.
