Hundreds of protesters chanting anti-government slogans gathered in Istanbul on Saturday to try to march towards the city's central Taksim square, blaming the government for bomb attacks which killed at least 86 people in the capital Ankara.

The two suspected suicide bombers hit as hundreds of people gathered outside Ankara's main train station for a planned march organised by civil society, pro-Kurdish and leftist groups to protest against conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast.

"Erdogan resign" and "Murderer AKP", some of the crowd in Istanbul shouted, accusing President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party of responsibility for the violence.

Riot police with two water cannon vehicles watched on. Police have previously prevented demonstrators from trying to reach Taksim square, the epicentre of weeks of violent anti-government protests during the summer of 2013.