site.btaTurkish Interior Minister Says Person Behind Istanbul Blast Arrested

The person who left the bomb that caused the explosion on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue has been arrested, Turkiye's Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying early Monday.

“Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria, where the PKK/YPG has its Syrian headquarters,” said Soylu.

He reiterated that Turkiye will continue with its resolute and rightful war on terror.

“We will retaliate against those who are responsible for this heinous terror attack,” he added.

Soylu confirmed that eight people were killed and 81 were injured in the attack.

Fifty of the injured were released from hospitals, while five are in intensive care units, he said.

Also, two of the injured are in critical condition, he added.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is considered a terrorist organisation both by Ankara and its Western allies, including the US and the EU. The organisation is at the heart of the conflict between Sweden and Turkiye, which has blocked Stockholm's entry into NATO since May, accusing it of appeasing the PKK.

Ankara demanded the extradition of several PKK members in a memorandum of understanding signed in June with Sweden and Finland, another Scandinavian country that wants to join NATO.

The PKK has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish government since the mid-1980s and has repeatedly been blamed for bloody attacks on Turkish territory. Turkish military operations are regularly carried out against its bases in northern Iraq and Syria.