UPDATE - Erdogan: Early signs point to Daesh in wedding blast

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM ERDOGAN

ISTANBUL (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said early signs point to Daesh's involvement in Saturday's deadly blast that targeted a wedding ceremony in southeast Turkey.

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul Sunday, Erdogan said a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 was involved in the attack, adding the bomber either blew himself up or was remotely detonated.

|Commenting on the latest casualty toll, the president said 51 people were killed and 69 others were wounded, including 17 critically.

"The initial findings of the governor and our police forces indicate the attack has been perpetrated by Daesh. As you know, Daesh is trying to position and organize itself in Gaziantep. Security operations have been conducted and are still being conducted against the terrorist organization,” Erdogan said.

"Last night [Saturday], they [terrorists] used children aged 12-14 years as a human bomb to carry out an attack at a wedding in Gaziantep. Currently, 69 people wounded, 17 seriously, are being treated at the hospital. The death toll is now 51,” he said.

"To preserve perennially our unity and brotherhood, we must all face these terrorist organizations. In our view, all these terrorist groups, whether the PKK, FETO, Daesh or PYD /YPG in Syria, are all the same. All together, like we did against the coup bid of July 15, we will overcome these difficulties," he said.

About the defeated coup Erdogan said: "I do not think our military and our police are totally cleared of FETO elements. That is why we will continue our actions to clean up all our state and public institutions of these traitors so that we no longer face such threats. "

The attack took place in the Beybahce neighborhood of the Gaziantep province’s Sahinbey district around 10.50 p.m. (1950GMT) on Saturday, according to the Gaziantep Governor's Office.