Denying Turkey's Allegations About Istanbul's Bombings, PKK Calls Will Not Be Introduction To Civilians

JAKARTA - Turkey blamed the blast Kurdish militants that killed six people in Istanbul, with police detaining 47 people including a Syrian woman who allegedly planted a bomb on Monday.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for Sunday's explosion on busy Istiklal Avenue pedestrians. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish denied involvement in it.

The explosion injured 81 people, sending debris flying into the air and hundreds of buyers, tourists, and families fleeing the scene.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the PKK and Syrian Kurdish YPG militias were responsible for the explosion, an incident reminiscent of a similar attack by Turkey in previous years.

Ankara said the YPG was the wing of the PKK. The United States has supported the YPG in the conflict in Syria, sparking friction between NATO allies (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

As international condemnation of the attack escalated, Soylu, a fierce critic of Washington, likened US condolences to "the killer who arrived as one of the first at the scene".

In a statement on its website, the PKK denied involvement and said it would not attack civilians. Meanwhile, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi denied being involved on Twitter.

"We affirm that our troops had nothing to do with the Istanbul bombings, and we reject the accusations accusing our troops of doing so," he wrote.

إننا نؤكد أن قواتنا ليست لها أية علاقة بتفجير اسطنبول، ونرفض المزاعم التي تتهم قواتنا بذلك.نعبّر عن خالص تعازينا لأهالي المفقودين والشعب التركي، ونرجو للجرحى الشفاء العاجل.

— Mazloum Abdî مظلوم عبدي (@MazloumAbdi) November 14, 2022

Police named the bomber Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian national, who was detained in a raid overnight.

According to police, Albashir said during the interrogation he was trained by Kurdish militants and entered Turkey via Afrin, another northern Syrian city.

Previous television news reports showed a picture of a person, who appeared to be a woman, leaving the package under a stretch of flowers in the middle of the road before the attack.

A Turkish official said the possibility of ISIS being responsible for the attack was "not completely ignored."

Meanwhile, authorities said 24 of the injured, including two in critical condition, were still in hospital. Meanwhile, 57 other people were discharged after treatment.

The attack sparked fears that more such incidents could occur ahead of the election planned for June 2023, with polls showing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could lose after two decades in power.

Istanbul has been attacked in the past by militants Kurdish, Islamist and left-wing. A wave of bombings and other attacks began nationwide when the ceasefire between Ankara and PKK failed in mid-2015, ahead of elections in November that year.

Meanwhile, Turkey has carried out three attacks in northern Syria against the YPG and Erdogan said this year other operations were imminent.

The PKK has led an uprising against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have died in clashes. This is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.