The attack targeted Istanbul’s pedestrian Istiklal Street, the city’s most popular shopping district.
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A Turkish member of the Islamic State militant group was responsible for Saturday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed three Israelis and an Iranian and wounded dozens of others, Turkey’s interior minister said. Ala told reporters Sunday that the bomber has been identified as Turkish citizen Mehmet Ozturk, who was born in 1992 in Gaziantep province, which borders Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who gave the news that two Israelis had been killed and that there might be a third fatality, said his government had contacted the Turkish government, which gave assurances that action would be taken against the official.
Turkish state-run media reported on Monday that police are searching for three suspected Islamic State militants who are allegedly planning to carry out a “sensational” act in the country, which has already been rocked by six suicide bombings since the summer, .
Suher and Goldman were also named as United States citizens by the State Department.
– February 17, 2016: A suicide vehicle bomb apparently targeting military personnel in Ankara killed 29 people in an attack claimed by TAK, an off-shoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization. Eleven of the 36 wounded were Israelis.
Also Sunday, Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a travel warning calling on Israelis not to travel to Turkey.
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On Sunday, well-wishers placed carnations and candles at the scene of the attack, with one placard reading “We are on the streets, we are not afraid of you”.
