Share

Turkey blames Islamic State bomber for Istanbul attack

Turkish interior ministry officials said another suspected ISIS member Savas Yildiz, is also being sought in connection to the attack and that the investigation is ongoing.

Advertisement

At least five people were killed, all foreign nationals, and 36 others were wounded this weekend in a suicide bomb attack against the northern Turkish city of Istanbul.

A man leaves carnations at the Saturday explosion site in Istanbul, Sunday, March 20, 2016.

The security concerns even pushed authorities to cancel a derby match between Turkish football clubs Fenerbahce and Galatasaray scheduled for Sunday evening in Istanbul.

People take shelter inside a shop after an explosion on the pedestrian Istiklal avenue in Istanbul on March 19, 2016.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the Israeli nation and the families of Israeli citizens who lost their lives in this treacherous terror attack while they were in Istanbul to visit our country and know our culture closely”.

Some Turkish officials initially blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the suicide bombing on Saturday in Istanbul.

Earlier, Israeli authorities raised the number of Israelis killed in the bombing to three, among them two who also hold American citizenship.

One campaign is being waged with its restive Kurdish population in the southeast, where thousands of people have been displaced and hundreds killed since a cease-fire collapsed last summer.

Isis has been angered by Turkey participation in a US-led coalition against its positions in Syria and Iraq. The 2012 bombing of a bus in Burgas in which five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver were killed has been attributed to the Lebanese organisation.

The blast occurred as Turkey investigates a string of recent attacks, including a massive vehicle bombing in the capital Ankara on March 13 which killed 37 people. “There could be no justification for terrorism”, Netanyahu said.

Advertisement

While Turkey classifies Islamic State as a terrorist group, it was late to seal its borders to jihadists crossing from Turkey into Syria, identifying Kurdish militants and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the primary threats to its national security. The decision to ban the festivities in Istanbul and several other cities were made before the attack and has upset Kurdish citizens demanding greater cultural rights.

A suicide attack on Istanbul's main pedestrian shopping street Saturday killed five people including two dual nationality Is