According to the Turkish police, the woman behind the attack which killed at least six people and injured 81 in Istanbul is a Syrian who acted on the orders of the PKK. She was arrested along with 46 other people.
The bomber of theIstanbul bombing who killed six people and injured 81 is of Syrian nationality, Turkey announced on Monday.
According to the police, she admitted to having acted on the orders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and received instructions in Kobani in northeastern Syria.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Ankara but also by its Western allies including the United States and the European Union, has been in armed struggle against the Turkish government since the mid-1980s. It has often been held responsible by history of bloody attacks on Turkish soil.
46 people arrested
The young woman was arrested with several other suspects in an apartment in Kucukcekmece, on the outskirts of Istanbul. According to Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, the suspect was about to “flee to Greece”.
Süleyman Soylu, who visited the scene of the carnage again on Monday, announced that 46 people have now been arrested, the day after the attack which hit Istiklal Street, one of the busiest arteries in Istanbul. , in the middle of Sunday afternoon.
“Operations continue” to arrest other suspects, said the minister. “They wanted to send us a message, we received it and we will respond to it in the strongest possible way,” he said.