The Turkish Minister of the Interior Suleiman Soylu today blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the attack that took place yesterday in the center of Istanbul, which claimed the lives of at least six people and injured more than 80 others.
“The person who planted the bomb was arrested. Based on our conclusions, the PKK terrorist organization is responsible” for the bomb blast, Mr. Soylu said, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency and other Turkish media.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Vice President Fuat Oktay said yesterday that a “woman” was responsible for the attack.
Mr. Soylou did not specify the identity of the arrested person.
The PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, is designated a “terrorist” organization by Ankara, the US and the EU. More than 40,000 people, mostly minorities, have since been killed in the war, mostly in southeastern Turkey.
This organization has been at the heart of the brawl between Turkey and Sweden: since May, Ankara has blocked Stockholm’s admission to NATO, accusing it of showing tolerance towards the PKK.
The Turkish government has demanded the extradition of members of the Kurdish separatist group from Swedish authorities in a memorandum of understanding signed in June with Sweden and Finland, another Nordic country that is seeking to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is seeing the move blocked. from Ankara.
The PKK has claimed responsibility for many bloody attacks on Turkish soil. It or organizations Ankara says are linked to it are targets of Turkish military operations in northern Iraq and Syria.
Last month, Turkish authorities were accused — denied by the Turkish opposition — of using chemical weapons against PKK militants. The separatist organization released a list of 17 names, accompanied by photographs, of people it presented as “martyrs”, as those who fell from the chemical gases allegedly used by the Turkish army.
Soilou made the arrest announcement via Twitter.
#URGENT Person who left bomb that caused explosion Sunday on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue arrested by police, says Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu pic.twitter.com/I08OTC4rPb
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) November 14, 2022
At least six people were killed and 81 others injured in the blast, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said smacked of “terrorism”.
#CanlıYayın 📡|📍İstanbul – Taksim | Press Release https://t.co/mrp21S9CFA
— Süleyman Soylu (@suleymansoylu) November 14, 2022
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Vice President Fuat Oktay said yesterday that a “woman” was responsible for the attack.
Mr. Soylou did not specify the identity of the arrested person.
International reactions
The attack, which comes seven months before crucial Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections, has drawn widespread condemnation and expressions of solidarity from other countries. Greece, Pakistan, India, Italy, Germany, where there is a large Turkish community, Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, among many others.
“Shocked and saddened by the news of the horrific attack in Turkey. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured and express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims, President Erdogan and the Turkish people. Greece unequivocally condemns any form of terrorism,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a tweet.
“All our thoughts are with the Turkish people in these difficult times,” European Council President Charles Michel tweeted. The NATO Secretary General expressed his “solidarity with our ally”. Ulf Kristerson, Prime Minister of Sweden, a candidate country for joining the Alliance, also expressed his shock.
The White House, in a statement, assured that the US “stands by Turkey, our NATO ally in the fight against terrorism”.
From France, which commemorated today the 130 dead from the attacks of November 13, 2015, President Emmanuel Macron assured: “To the Turks: we share your pain.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his condolences to the Turkish president.
Finally, Israel, with which Turkey has rewarmed its relations, confirmed that “terror will never win.”
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