In a televised speech, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said a DNA test confirmed the identity of the bomber.
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Daniel Estrin tells our Newscast unit that one instance of rhetoric about those injured Israelis caused some tension between Israel and Turkey.
Police were on high alert on Sunday after the previous day’s attack and due to concerns about potential clashes between security forces and Kurdish militants during a spring festival this weekend that is widely celebrated by Kurds.
The decision to call off the game between Galatasaray, who lay fifth in the Turkish Super Lig, and second-placed title challengers Fenerbahce came despite authorities calling for the 15 million inhabitants of Turkey’s largest city to carry on with life as normal after the blast.
Police cordoned off Taksim Square after the attack, as helicopters flew overhead and multiple ambulances gathered at the site.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The spate of bombings has raised questions about Turkey’s ability to protect itself from a spillover of both the Syria and Kurdish conflicts.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu promised a determined fight “until all forms of terrorism are eradicated”.
The vehicle bombing attack on March 13 by the PKK affiliate group killed 37 in the heart of the Turkish capital.
Erdogan has been accused of neglecting the fight against IS to wage a relentless offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since a two-year-old truce between the state and the Kurdish rebels fell apart in July.
“The evidence at hand shows that he is connected to the Daesh terrorist organization”. The attack targeted Istanbul’s pedestrian Istiklal Street, which is lined with shops and cafes in an area that also has government offices and foreign missions.
“We are not responsible for who will die in the attacks targeting those areas”, the militant group said, adding that Turkey is unable “to save you and its own people”.
Hotovely said the attack would not affect negotiations to restore ties.
This includes a February bombing targeting military vehicles in central Ankara that killed 28 people.
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“Tourism is one of the important sources feeding the dirty and special war, so it is a major target we aim to destroy”, the TAK said at the time.
