ISTANBUL: Turkey blamed Kurdish militants on Monday for an explosion that killed six people in Istanbul and police detained 47 people including a Syrian woman suspected of planting the bomb.
No group has claimed responsibility so far for Sunday's blast on the busy pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied involvement in it.
The explosion wounded 81 people, sending debris flying into the air and hundreds of shoppers, tourists and families fleeing from the scene.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast, an incident that recalled for Turks similar attacks in years past.
Ankara says the YPG is a wing of the PKK. The United States has supported the YPG in the conflict in Syria, stoking friction between NATO allies.
As international condemnation of the attack poured in, Soylu, a fierce critic of Washington, likened U.S. condolences for the victims to "the murderer arriving as one of the first at the scene of the crime".
In a statement on its website, the PKK denied involvement and said it would not attack civilians. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi denied involvement on Twitter.
Police named the suspected bomber as Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian national, who was detained in an overnight raid.
According to police, Albashir said during questioning that she was trained by Kurdish militants and entered Turkey through Afrin, another northern Syrian town.
Earlier television news reports showed images of a person, who appeared to be a woman, leaving a package below a raised flower bed in the middle of the avenue just before the attack.
A Turkish official said the possibility of Islamic State being responsible for the attack was "not entirely disregarded."
ECHOES OF PAST ATTACKS
Six Turkish citizens, two members each of three families, were killed in the attack.
Social worker Yusuf Meydan and his nine-year-old daughter died during the attack while his wife was inside a shop and survived the blast, according to Demiroren agency.
The Meydan family was supposed to go back to their hometown Adana on Sunday after attending an engagement ceremony of a relative in Istanbul, the cousin of Yusuf Meydan said in an interview with Demiroren.
"They went there for an engagement ceremony of a relative...they were supposed to come back last night. They wanted to visit Taksim and that incident happened. I condemn terrorism. There is nothing else to say," Meydan's cousin said.
Authorities said 24 of the wounded, including two in critical condition, were still in hospital, while another 57 people were discharged after treatment.
The attack sparked concerns that more such incidents could occur ahead of elections set for June 2023, which polls suggest President Tayyip Erdogan could lose after two decades in power.
Istanbul has been attacked in the past by Kurdish, Islamist and leftist militants. A wave of bombings and other attacks began nationwide when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK broke down in mid-2015, ahead of elections in November that year.
"It has been a disaster," said Lokman Kalkan, who was sweeping shattered glass and bloodstains from the floor outside his suitcases shop near the blast site. "This is all that happened. People were fighting for their lives."
Turkey has carried out three incursions in northern Syria against the YPG and Erdogan said this year another operation was imminent.
The PKK has led an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in clashes. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Reuters
Tue Nov 15 2022
Abdi Koseoglu, father of Mukaddes Elif Topkara and father-in-law of Adem Topkara, two of the six victims of Sunday's blast that took place on Istiklal Avenue, mourns during their funeral ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, November 14, 2022. - REUTERS
Pelajar tahfiz perlu teroka bidang teknologi
Kira-kira 200,000 pelajar tahfiz di negara ini, perlu dipastikan untuk mempunyai kemampuan dan peluang menjadi tenaga penggerak kepada umat Islam Malaysia dalam meneroka bidang yang dahulu dilihat sebagai asing., tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perpaduan rakyat prasyarat ekonomi mampan
Tidak semua negara Islam mempunyai ruang dan kesempatan untuk terus aman dan damai, dan mempunyai peluang untuk menikmati ekonomi yang kukuh dan berkembang seperti Malaysia, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Tidak perlu tergesa-gesa tukar ke lesen B - JPJ
Pemegang Lesen Memandu Malaysia (LMM) Kelas B2 dan B1 tidak perlu tergesa-gesa mendaftar Program Khas Peralihan LLM Kelas B2/B1 Kepada LMM Kelas B kerana tiada had masa ditetapkan untuk permohonan.
KPWKM teruskan lapan inisiatif bantu warga emas
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) akan terus menggerakkan lapan inisiatif utama dalam memenuhi keperluan jagaan dan sistem sokongan terhadap warga emas.
Warga emas maut ditikam anak kandung yang berhalusinasi
Seorang pesara guru maut ditikam anak kandungnya sendiri di sebuah rumah dekat Kampung Senaling, di sini, petang Sabtu.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 5 Oktober 2024.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Hezbollah lancar serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kompleks industri ketenteraan di utara Israel
Pergerakan Hezbollah di Lubnan berkata mereka telah melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kemudahan ATA Defence Industries.
Tiada kaitan dengan pelantikan CEO MDEC, Anuar Fariz bukan adik saya - Fahmi
Menteri Komunikasi Fahmi Fadzil menyangkal dakwaan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) baharu Perbadanan Ekonomi Digital Malaysia (MDEC) Anuar Fariz Fadzil merupakan adiknya.
Israel lakukan persiapan untuk serang Iran - Laporan
Tentera Israel sedang bersiap untuk "tindakan balas besar-besaran dan ekstrem" terhadap Iran.
Bekas penyerang Turkiye Akin cedera ditembak di Istanbul
Rakaman CCTV menunjukkan penyerang melarikan diri dengan motosikal.
Malaysia dan negara-negara D-8 luluskan deklarasi berkaitan Gaza
Malaysia dan negara-negara anggota D-8 meluluskan deklarasi berkaitan situasi di Gaza.
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: "Ini panggilan daripada Allah" - Dr Sharifah Mazlina
Beliau bersyukur kerana permohonan menyertai misi ini diluluskan biarpun hanya sempat mengisi borang penyertaan di saat akhir.
Batik Air gantung operasi ke Istanbul bermula 1 Mei
Syarikat penerbangan itu berkata keputusan itu dibuat sebagai respons terhadap situasi di Timur Tengah yang memberi kesan kepada laluan penerbangan Batik Air.
Sekurang-kurangnya 29 pekerja binaan maut, kelab malam di Istanbul terbakar
Sekurang-kurangnya 29 orang maut dalam kebakaran di sebuah kelab malam di Istanbul yang dalam kerja-kerja pengubahsuaian.
Ribuan rakyat Turki banjiri Lapangan Terbang Ataturk, tunjuk sokongan kepada Palestin
Ribuan rakyat Turki membanjiri Lapangan Terbang Ataturk untuk sesi Pertemuan Ramai Palestin pada Sabtu.
Misi perdagangan francais Malaysia ke Istanbul potensi tarik pelaburan RM30 juta - Fuziah
Misi bertujuan mempromosi jenama francais tempatan sekali gus menembusi pasaran Turki yang mempunyai potensi besar.
PM Anwar tiba di Istanbul untuk bertemu Presiden Turki
Antara topik yang dijadual dibincangkan dengan Erdogan ialah mengenai kebimbangan isu Israel-Palestin yang semakin meningkat.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Mayat ditemukan di gear mendarat pesawat Turkish Airlines
Pasukan penyelenggaraan teknikal menemukan mayat itu semasa pemeriksaan rutin.