It was the sixth deadly suicide attack in Turkey since July.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement of support to Belgium on Tuesday following a series of bomb blasts in Brussels, Anadolu Agency reported.
It was not immediately clear if the three wanted IS suspects are connected to the suicide bomber who blew himself up in Istanbul on Saturday.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu sent a personal message to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying: “The attack in Istanbul has shown us once again that the global community as a whole should act in a resolute manner against the ignoble objectives of terrorist organizations”.
Due to the attacks, Turkish officials are on red alert all around the country, as five other unnamed people have been detained in relation to Saturday’s bombing.
On Sunday one of the biggest events on the country’s sporting calendar, a match between Istanbul’s top football (soccer) teams, was canceled.
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin has received a condolence letter from President Erdogan of Turkey following the terror attack yesterday in Istanbul, in which three Israelis were murdered and a further 10 injured.
The attack killed 4 people of whom 3 were Israeli citizens.
The arrests come days after the Turkish interior ministry blamed a Turkish IS member for a suicide bombing which killed five people in Istanbul, including two American-Israelis and an Iranian.
The attacks have underscored Turkey’s struggle to prevent spillover from the war in neighbouring Syria, raising questions as to whether its security services are overstretched as they fight on two fronts.
A radical offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) meanwhile claimed a bombing in Ankara earlier this month that left 36 dead.
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Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for ” new year”, is an ancient Persian festival, celebrated on the first day of spring, March 21, in Central Asian republics, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.
