Seventeen people have been remanded in custody following Sunday’s attack in Istanbul, which authorities have blamed on Kurdish PKK militants and their allies in Syria, Turkish media reported today. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Among these 17 persons is included the woman accused of planting the bomb on a bench on Istiklal Avenue, in the heart of Istanbul.
Six people were killed and 81 were injured in the explosion that occurred on the afternoon of November 13 on this busy pedestrian thoroughfare.
The 17 suspects, some of whom are accused of directly helping to carry out the attack, were imprisoned in the Marmara prison – until recently known as Silivri (Silyvria) prison – on the outskirts of Istanbul. By the beginning of the week, 51 people had been arrested.
She confessed her deed
The main suspect was arrested on Sunday night in an apartment in a suburb of Istanbul. This is Alham Albasir, who, according to the authorities, is of Syrian nationality and entered Turkey illegally from northeastern Syria.
The young woman, aged 23, she allegedly confessed to her act during her detention. According to Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency, citing a police report, Alham Albasir said she first came into contact with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2017 through her ex-boyfriend and, after they broke up, maintained a relationship with the organization. She also testified that she did not know what was inside the bag she was told to leave on the bench in Istiklal and that it had been given to her by another suspect, who later fled Turkey.
The PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey accuses of being linked to the PKK, have denied any involvement in the Istanbul attack.
The YPG had been supported by Western European countries, particularly the US and France, and had been at the forefront of the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria. The two organizations are considered “terrorist” by Ankara, while the PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by both the US and the EU.
Source: News Beast
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