“The suicide bomber, who blew himself up on the busy Istiklal avenue on Saturday, has been IS+Member” identified as a suspected member of Islamic State (IS).
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Ozturk was born in 1992 and had no previous criminal record.
Saturday’s explosion on on Istiklal Street, a major shopping and tourist district in the central part of the city, killed five people, including Ozturk, and wounded dozens of others.
Three Israelis and one Iranian were killed in the blast.
Israel’s country’s counterterrorism bureau upgraded the threat level in Turkey, issuing a travel advisory that recommends Israelis avoid visiting the country.
The attack appeared similar to a suicide bombing in Istanbul in January, also blamed on ISIL, which killed several German tourists. The two discussed the Turkish media’s focus on details of the attack and its aftermath.
Turkey opened its air bases to members of the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in July and joined military strikes against the extremist group after blaming the jihadist organization for a July suicide bombing that killed 33 civilians by the Syrian border.
Dutch Consul General Robert Schuddeboom, who had come to lay flowers at the site, said there could be more such attacks.
Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for a vehicle bomb last week that struck a square of shops and restaurants in the capital, Ankara, killing at least 37 people.
“We are working so that they do not happen”, the minister said.
“We will fight with determination and perseverance until all forms of terrorism are eradicated”, Davutoglu said Saturday.
The bodies of the three Israeli victims were flown home to Israel on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a shadowy Kurdish group called TAK, or Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, has asserted responsibility for two suicide attacks in Ankara, including the one on March 13.
Kurdish militants have claimed a number of recent attacks in Turkey.
However, Schweitzer, who also serves as a consultant on counter-terror strategies to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Defense, said that Netanyahu’s estimation that the suicide bombing was carried out by an Islamic State operative may be correct.
Ankara had borne the brunt of the attacks until now, being hit three times in the past five months.
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Police were on high alert across Turkey on Sunday after the 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. Roads in that area were being closed by police for security reasons, Anadolu Agency reported.
