Friends killed in Ankara terror attacks only five months apart from each other


Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) first year student Ozancan Akkuş suffered the same fate on Sunday as his close friend Ali Deniz, who was tragically killed in a terrorist attack in Ankara, just five months ago.

On Oct. 10, 2015, Ankara was hit by a terror attack outside the central railway station, killing Ali Deniz alongside 102 other people.At that time, his close friend Akkuş had posted a message on social media: "Even the tears from our eyes will not be able to clear the blood off your hands [referring to the terrorists]. The stain will always stay on you but that beautiful man will live in our hearts."

Unfortunately, Akkuş suffered the same fate as his friend, as he was killed only five months later in the latest terror attack, which hit the capital on Sunday. This unfortunate coincidence of two close friends losing their lives only five months apart from each other has circulated throughout Turkish social media under the name "chain of death."

At least 37 died of injuries suffered in Sunday's suicide car-bomb attack in the capital. The attack comes less than a month after the last major car bombing in Ankara (which left 30 people dead), and five months after twin suicide bombings in October, the deadliest attack in Turkish history.Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that 37 people were announced dead after the attack with the bodies of 35 victims handed over to their families. Davutoğlu also noted that one of the two remaining bodies belongs to the identified terrorist and the other is believed to be the co-conspirator of the identified terrorist.