Police in Turkey disclosed on Tuesday, November 15, that the woman arrested on suspicion of carrying out the deadly bomb explosion in Istanbul on Sunday is a Syrian national who had arrived in Turkey a few months prior without proper documentation. A massive explosion occurred on a busy shopping street near Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Sunday (November 13) at about 16:20 local time (13:20 GMT). At least six people have been killed and 81 wounded in the explosion.
The Turkish police added that the suspect, identified as Ahlam Albashir, entered the country without papers through the northern Syrian city of Afrin to carry out the attack in the heart of the city. She came into the country four months before the attack and allegedly acted on the instructions of the banned Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK.
#BREAKING Istanbul terror attack suspect, named Ahlam Albashir, acted on orders from PKK terrorist group’s base in Syria’s Kobani city pic.twitter.com/g4iUE83OPu
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) November 14, 2022
The Turkish authorities further stated that the arrest was made after videos from around 1,200 security cameras were reviewed and raids were carried out at 21 locations. Moreover, at least 46 other people were also detained for questioning.
According to media reports, during her interrogation, the suspect told police that she had been trained as a “special intelligence officer” by the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, as well as the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party and its armed wing.
Turkey accuses USA of complicity in Istanbul bomb attack
Turkey, meanwhile, accused the US of being complicit in the attack because the US has long had a military alliance with a Kurdish-led militia in Syria.
Following the arrest of the Syrian national, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu reportedly dismissed the condolence messages from the United States, claiming that “the killer is among the first ones returning to the scene.”
“I emphasize once again that we do not accept, and reject the condolences of the U.S. Embassy,” Soylu said, according to Turkish state media publication Anadolu Agency.
BREAKING: Turkey does not accept condolence messages from US over deadly PKK terror attack in Istanbul, Interior Minister says – Anadolu Agency
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 14, 2022
The US Embassy in Turkey Tweeted Sunday that it was “deeply saddened” by the explosion, adding, “We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery for the injured.”
The U.S. Mission in Türkiye is deeply saddened by the explosion in Istanbul this afternoon. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery for the injured.
— U.S. Embassy Türkiye (@USEmbassyTurkey) November 13, 2022
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also Tweeted on Sunday, the day of the attack, that the U.S. “condemns the act of violence that took place today in Istanbul.”
The U.S. strongly condemns the act of violence that took place today in Istanbul, Turkiye. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences go to those who lost loved ones. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO Ally Turkiye in countering terrorism.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) November 13, 2022
“Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences go to those who lost loved ones,” the statement read. “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO Ally Turkiye in countering terrorism.”
It may be recalled that a day after a deadly bomb blast tore through a crowded shopping street in Turkey’s Istanbul, killing six and wounding over 80, Turkey’s interior minister Suleyman Soylu on Monday attributed responsibility for the Sunday explosion on the Istiklal Avenue to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), saying, “our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria” where he said the group’s Syrian headquarters are located.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, the EU and some other countries. Since the 1980s, the PKK has maintained a deadly insurgency in southeast Turkey for Kurdish self-rule. Regularly the target of Turkish military operations, the PKK is also at the centre of a dispute between Sweden and Turkey. Turkey has been preventing Stockholm’s membership in NATO since May, blaming Stockholm for showing favouritism to the PKK.
Video of the bomb blast surfaces
The explosion occurred on a busy shopping street near Taksim Square on Sunday at about 16:20 local time (13:20 GMT). At least six people have been killed and 81 wounded in the explosion.
Videos that were shared online shortly after the explosion showed hundreds of people fleeing the street as ambulances and police rushed to the scene. The place was crowded with tourists, families and shoppers as usual when the deadly blast took place.
Authorities later revealed that among the dead were a Turkish government ministry worker and his daughter. According to news agency Reuters, five persons among those injured were shifted to intensive care in a hospital, with two of them being in a critical condition.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the perpetrators would be punished.
