ISTANBUL: Turkish police said Monday they have detained a Syrian woman with suspected links to Kurdish militants and that she confessed to planting a bomb that exploded on a bustling pedestrian avenue in Istanbul, killing six people and wounding several dozen others. Kurdish militants strongly denied any links to the bombing.
Sunday’s explosion hit Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to Taksim Square.
“A little while ago, the person who left the bomb was detained by our Istanbul Police Department teams,’’ Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced early Monday. Police later identified the suspect as Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian citizen.
The Istanbul Police Department said videos from around 1,200 security cameras were reviewed and raids were carried out at 21 locations. At least 46 other people were also detained for questioning.
The suspected allegedly departed the scene in a taxi after leaving TNT-type explosives on the crowded avenue, police said.
Sunday’s explosion was a shocking reminder of the anxiety that gripped Turkey when such attacks were common. The country was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017, some by the Daesh terror group, others by Kurdish militants who seek increased autonomy or independence.
Police said the suspect told them during her interrogation that she had been trained as a “special intelligence officer’’ by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, as well as the Syrian Kurdish group the Democratic Union Party and its armed wing. She entered Turkey illegally through the Syrian border town of Afrin, police said.
The Kurdistan Workers Party denied involvement in a statement, saying it did not target civilians. In Syria, the main Kurdish militia group, People’s Defence Units denied any links to the suspect.
Soylu said the suspect would have fled to neighbouring Greece if she hadn’t been detained.
Earlier, Soylu said security forces believe that instructions for the attack came from Kobani, the majority Kurdish city in northern Syria that borders Turkey. He said the attack would be avenged.
“We know what message those who carried out this action want to give us. We got this message,’’ Soylu said. “Don’t worry, we will pay them back heavily.’’
Soylu also blamed the United States, claiming that a condolence message from the White House was akin to “a killer being first to show up at a crime scene.’’ Turkey has been infuriated by US support for Syrian Kurdish groups.
In its message, the White House said it strongly condemned the “act of violence” in Istanbul, adding: “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO ally (Turkey) in countering terrorism.’’
Turkish television broadcast footage purporting to show the main suspect being detained at a house where she was allegedly hiding. It said police searching the house also seized large amounts of cash, gold and a gun.
The minister told reporters that Kurdish militants had allegedly given orders for the main suspect to be killed to avoid evidence being traced back to them.
Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya said of the 81 people hospitalized in the attack, 57 have been discharged. Six of the wounded were in intensive care and two of them were in life-threatening condition, he said. The six killed in the blast were members of three families and included children ages 9 and 15.
Funerals were held Monday for the six victims, including Adem Topkara and his wife Elif Topkara, who had left their two young children with their aunt and were taking a stroll down Istiklal at the time of the blast.
