ANKARA: Turkish investigators were close to identifying one of two suicide bombers in the country’s deadliest attacks in years, the prime minister said Monday, adding that Daesh was the “No. 1 priority” of the investigation.

Ahmet Davutoglu also said in an interview with private NTV television that the evidence pointed to a “certain group” which he refused to identify.

The rally on Saturday was organized by Turkish and Kurdish activists to call for increased democracy and an end to the renewed fighting between Turkey’s security forces and the Kurdish rebels that has killed hundreds since July.

On Monday, Yeni Safak, a newspaper close to the government, said authorities investigating the bombings were focusing on Daesh, comparing DNA samples of the suspected bombers with those obtained from families of some 20 extremists they suspect could have carried out the attacks.

Davutoglu said Turkey had received intelligence that Kurdish rebels or Daesh militants were planning suicide bombings and said two would-be bombers were detained before Saturday’s attack.

“There was general intelligence concerning a team called the ‘immortals’ within Daesh making preparations, concerning preparations by the PKK,” Davutoglu said.

He said the attack aimed to influence the result of Turkey’s Nov. 1 election and cast a shadow over the polls. He did not elaborate.

Davutoglu rejected opposition accusations that the attacks were a result of Turkey’s involvement in the conflict in Syria and that the government was dragging the country into the Middle Eastern quagmire. “These attacks won’t turn Turkey into a Syria,” Davutoglu said.

Police detained nine more suspected Daesh militants in raids in the southern cities of Adana and Kilis, officials said Monday.