“The person who planted the bomb has been arrested. According to our conclusions, the terrorist organization PKK is responsible for the attack,” he said in a late-night statement broadcast by Anadolu official agency and local television. 21 other people were arrested. The minister also accused Kurdish forces controlling most of northeastern Syria, which Ankara considers terrorists, to be behind the attack.
The attack, which went unreported, killed six people and wounded 81, half of whom required hospitalization. It happened in the middle of Sunday afternoon in an extremely popular pedestrian street frequented by Istanbul residents and tourists.
Souleyman MSoylu did not specify the conditions under which this alleged “person” was arrested, nor whether it was a “woman,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then his Vice-President Fuat Oktay confirmed on Sunday evening. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag then referred to a “bag” placed on a bench: “A woman sat on a bench for 40 to 45 minutes and some time later there was an explosion. All data on this woman is currently being verified,” he continued. “Either that bag contained a timer or someone activated it remotely,” he added.
President Erdogan was the first to denounce a “heinous attack” shortly before he flew to Indonesia for the G20 summit in Bali: “First observations point to a terrorist attack,” said the head of state, adding that “a woman would be involved in it.” “. “The perpetrators of this heinous attack will be exposed. Let our people be sure that they will be punished,” promised Erdogan, who already faced a campaign of terror across the country in 2015-2016.
panic movement
The explosion with great force and accompanied by high flames was heard from afar and triggered a panic movement among the many spectators. “People ran away in a panic. The noise was huge. There was black smoke. The noise was so loud, almost deafening,” said a witness, Cemal Denizci, 57, who saw several people lying on the ground.
The PKK, viewed as a terrorist organization by Ankara but also by its Western allies including the United States and the European Union, has been engaged in armed struggle against the Turkish government since the mid-1980s and has often been accused of bloody attacks in the past Attacks blamed on Turkish soil.
The blast rocked Istanbul’s busy Istiklal shopping street.
YASIN AKGUL/AFP
In December 2016, a double attack near Istanbul’s Besiktas football stadium – killing 47 including 39 police officers and wounding 160 – was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical Kurdish group close to the PKK. The PKK is also at the center of a showdown between Sweden and Turkey, which has been blocking Stockholm’s NATO entry since May, accusing it of being lenient towards the PKK.