A suspect in the terrorist attack has been detained in Istanbul, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, Anadolu reports .
According to preliminary data, militants of the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK / YPG), recognized as a terrorist organization in Turkey, were involved in the explosion.
“Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terrorist attack came from Ain al-Arab in northern Syria, where the Syrian headquarters of the PKK/YPG is located,” Soylu said.
Earlier, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that a woman could have perpetrated the explosion. She was caught on surveillance cameras. The woman sat on the bench for 40-45 minutes, left her bag, left, and after a while there was an explosion. Turkish media outlets HalkTV and OdaTV released a screenshot from the video showing a woman wearing camouflage pants and a hijab. However, as the head of the Turkish bureau of the publication Middle East Eye Racep Soylu noted, the hijab is not worn correctly, as it does not cover the neck.
The explosion in Istanbul occurred around 16:20 local time (the same time Moscow time) on Istiklal Street. As a result of the explosion, six people were killed and another 81 people were injured. The Istanbul Prosecutor General's Office qualified the explosion as a terrorist act. TV channels were temporarily banned from broadcasting from the site of the explosion. The territory is cordoned off.