Nine defendants appeared before a court in the capital Ankara yesterday over last year's car bombing that killed 36 people in downtown Ankara in March. In total, 55 defendants, including those released pending trial and fugitive leaders of the PKK terrorist group blamed for the attack, are on trial. The assault was one of many to hit the capital in 2016 after a series of PKK and Daesh attacks. Prosecutors are asking for life in prison for the PKK militants who planned the attack which was carried out by two suicide bombers next to a crowded bus stop outside of Ankara's Güvenpark. The attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a PKK affiliate.