Turkey’s interior minister has accused Kurdish militants in northern Syria of responsibility for a bombing in a busy Istanbul shopping thoroughfare that killed six people, and said that a suspect had been arrested.
Six people died and 81 were injured when a bomb struck Istanbul’s popular pedestrian thoroughfare İstiklal Avenue, timed to strike when it was most crowded. Turkey’s justice minister, Bekir Bozdağ, said that “a woman sat on a bench there for 45 minutes”, and that the explosion occurred moments after she left.
The Turkish interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said early on Monday the attack was planned in a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, blaming militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) and the People’s Defence Units (YPG).
“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,” he said.
The PKK denied involvement on Monday, saying in a statement on its website “it is out of [the] question for us to target civilians in any way”.
While Kurdish militants and attackers linked to Islamic State (IS) have been blamed for attacks on central Istanbul in the past, the attack has not been officially claimed by any group so far.
Ankara, Washington and the EU label the PKK a terrorist group, stemming from its decades-long insurgency demanding Kurdish self-rule in south-eastern Turkey. The YPG shares ties with the PKK, but is part of US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that fought IS militants in northern Syria.
Istanbul police said that 46 people had been detained in total.
The Turkish presidential communications chief, Fahrettin Altun, alluded to the potential impact on US-Turkey relations, stemming from Ankara’s long-term displeasure with the US backing of Kurdish groups in northern Syria.
“The international community must pay attention. Terror attacks against our civilians are direct and indirect consequences of some countries’ support for terror groups. They must immediately cease their direct and indirect support if they want Türkiye’s friendship,” he said.
Soylu added that Turkey “will not accept messages of condolence” from the US concerning the attack.
The PKK is also regularly targeted by Turkish military operations in northern Iraq, while Ankara has also blocked Swedish entry into Nato after accusing it of leniency towards the group.
Speaking shortly before departing for Tuesday’s G20 summit in Bali, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke of a “treacherous attack”, adding: “Those responsible will be punished.”
Videos posted online from the moment of the attack showed terrified people running and trying to seek cover in nearby shops as a fireball billowed overhead. Shoppers who had previously been strolling in the afternoon sun clutched each other in fear before turning to run away.
Turkey’s media ombudsman, RTÜK, placed a temporary ban on reporting of the explosion, preventing broadcasters from showing the moment the blast struck or the immediate aftermath, “to avoid broadcasts that may create fear, panic and turmoil in society and may serve the purposes of terrorist organisations”.
The web freedom monitoring organisation NetBlocks said network data showed the Turkish authorities were restricting access to social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook after the attack. “Access to information is vital in times of emergency. Research shows that social media restrictions increase misinformation after security incidents and attacks,” said the NetBlocks founder, Alp Toker.
The Turkish parliament recently passed a sweeping new law prohibiting “disinformation”, under which social media users or journalists accused of breaking it could be jailed for up to three years. The head of RTÜK, Ebubekir Şahin, warned citizens against spreading misinformation about the attack. “We are following the developments closely. Please do not rely on information from unclear sources. Let’s get information from reliable sources. Let’s not spread false information unknowingly,” he said.
Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by Islamic State and outlawed Kurdish groups.
They included a suicide bombing attack on the same street on 19 March 2016, which killed five people and injured 36. Turkish police later said the bomber had links to IS.
In January that year, a suicide bomber in the busy Sultanahmet district killed 13. In June, attackers armed with automatic weapons and explosives belts attacked the entrance of Istanbul’s Atatürk airport, killing 45 people other than the attackers and injuring more than 230.
“Without knowing who is behind this attack, the fact that this is the first terror attack in six years brings back terrible memories of the 2015-16 period when hundreds died across Turkey,” said Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy thinktank.
“I think we could see a hardening of the electorate to the right as a result,” he added, pointing towards elections due to be held in Turkey next year, if not earlier. “I think the same trend line could hold again, that whoever portrays themselves as a security candidate standing against terrorism could consolidate their base.”
