Pope Francis today said he was deeply saddened by the killing of scores of "defenseless" people in yesterday's twin bomb blasts in Ankara, the most deadly attack of its kind on Turkish soil.

Two suspected suicide bombers hit a rally of pro-Kurdish and labor activists near Ankara's main train station three weeks before elections, killing at least 95 people and fueling unease in a country beset by conflict between state forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast.

Pope Francis asked the thousands of faithful in St Peter's Square to pray in silence for the victims after his weekly Angelus address.

"Yesterday, we received with deep sadness the news of the terrible killings which took place in Ankara, Turkey. We are pained for the many deaths. We are pained for the wounded. We are pained because the perpetrators hit defenseless people who were demonstrating for peace. As I pray for that dear country, I ask the Lord to welcome the souls of the dead and to comfort the suffering and the families. Let us all pray together in silence," the pope said.