The Interior Ministry official said authorities had strong evidence indicating that the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, had carried out both Tuesday’s attack in Istanbul and the Wednesday bombing in Mardin.
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CNN notes that the U.S. Embassy in Turkey called the attack “barbarous” and “senseless”, and promised that the U.S. would “continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkey in the fight against terrorism”.
NATO, the European Union and countries worldwide express solidarity with Turkey in aftermath of attack on a police vehicle. The dead were seven police officers and four civilians.
A auto bomb ripped through a police station in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring dozens more.
Police have evacuated the area surrounding the attack and the injured have been taken to hospital, Anadolu news agency informs.
A bomb-laden auto was detonated as the vehicle was passing by a police station, according to Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin.
The EU says Tuesday that “we reiterate our continuing solidarity to Turkey, its government and its people and reaffirm our commitment to work closely together to fight the global threat of terrorism”.
Wednesday’s attack comes a day after a auto bomb hit a police vehicle in Istanbul, killing 11 people during the morning rush hour.
The bomb exploded during this morning’s rush hour in the Vezneciler district of Istanbul, close to tourist attractions and Istanbul University. At least three of the wounded were in serious condition.
Pictures showed the bomb had turned the police vehicle into mangled wreckage and that nearby shops had their front windows smashed out by the force of the blast. In that attack, a parked vehicle was also blown up as a bus carrying security force personnel passed by. Erdogan vowed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member’s fight against terrorism would go on, describing the attack on officers whose jobs were to protect others as “unforgivable”.
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The bombing came during the first days of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, a time marked by dawn-to-dusk fasting and intense prayer.
