site.btaTürkiye Faces Terrorism Again. Who Ordered the Istanbul Attack?

Türkiye has faced terrorism again. In one of the busiest places in Istanbul, the pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, which is teeming with people at all hours of the day and night, an explosion Sunday claimed the lives of six people and injured more than 80. Soon after the blast, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the case looked like terrorism, and it later emerged that a person believed to have planted the bomb, had been arrested. According to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state since 1984 and is recognized as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies, including the EU and the US, was responsible for the attack. 

“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 did not identify the suspect but said 21 other people were also detained for questioning. He said the attack would be avenged.

“Those who made us go through this pain in Istiklal Avenue will be inflicted much more pain,” Soylu said.

The attack was carried out at 4.20pm on Sunday. Four people were killed on the spot and the other two died later from their injuries. Two of the victims were children, aged nine and 15. The oldest among the deceased was a 40-year-old. No Bulgarian citizens were reported injured in the blast, the Foreign Ministry told BTA. Of the 81 wounded, 50 have already been discharged from hospital, five are in intensive care and the condition of two is being assessed as serious.

According to statements by Turkish officials, suspicions of carrying out the attack fell on a woman who may have been carrying an explosive device in a bag. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the woman stood at one of the banks on Istiklal for a long time, more than 40 minutes, then left, and a minute or two later the explosion occurred. It is likely that the device was placed in a shopping bag or in the woman's purse and she herself or someone else remotely detonated it.

The investigation into the attack will be led by the Istanbul prosecution office, with a team of eight prosecutors and two deputy chief prosecutors tasked with the job, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported. 

Meanwhile, on Sunday the court imposed a ban on the dissemination of news about the explosion. The terrorism investigation bureau of the Istanbul Prosecutor General's Office is investigating "negative news on social networks related to the explosion," the Anadolu News Agency reported. Twenty-five account owners who were found to have posted provocative posts on social media in connection with the Istanbul blast have been reported to the relevant authorities, police said.

Interior Minister Soylu blamed the United States, likening a condolence message from the White House to "a killer being first to show up at a crime scene."

Türkiye blames the US for its support of the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia in Syria that Ankara says is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

The European Union, NATO and a large number of countries, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Greece and many others, also sent their condolences to Türkiye.

According to Soylu, the Turkish authorities have prevented nearly 200 terrorist attacks this year alone, which probably could have had worse consequences.

Experts told Türkiye's private NTV television that the attack could not have been carried out without outside interference. According to prof. Murat Yesiltas, "if the PKK was indeed behind the attack and the source of the attack originated in Syria, then Türkiye could take new action".

Ankara has been warning for months that it plans to launch a new military operation in northern Syria to counter terrorist threats. Back in May, President Erdogan announced these intentions, saying the aim of the offensive would be to build a 30-kilometer-deep security zone along the Türkiye-Syria border. 

According to experts, it is possible that the Istiklal attack acted as a catalyst for plans to send Turkish troops into the neighbouring country. 

Türkiye has carried out several major military operations in northern Syria since 2016, mainly targeting the US-backed YPG.

On Monday, Istiklal Avenue was reopened to pedestrians after police finished work on the crime scene. People are doing up and down, and a platform has been set up at the site of the explosion where people leave flowers.