Israel has confirmed that three of its citizens died in the blast, two of which held dual citizenship with the United States.
Advertisement
Eleven Israelis were wounded in the blast, including Damri’s husband, Avi. It sent panicked shoppers scurrying into alleys off Istiklal Street, a long pedestrian avenue lined with global stores and foreign consulates. Israel also said 11 of its citizens had been wounded while Ireland said “a number” of Irish were hurt. Many residents believe that the Turkish government is unable to protect them from the spill-over of violence from the war in neighboring Syria.
Cavusoglu said the PKK is a terrorist organization just like Daesh.
Thousands of people gathered in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir Monday to celebrate the Newroz spring festival.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
But Erdogan’s critics, including privately some of Turkey’s allies, argue that Erdogan’s focus on battling Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the largely Kurdish southeast – a campaign he has repeatedly vowed will continue – comes at the cost of its fight against ISIS. The warning cites the significant rise over the past two months in terror threats in Turkey, especially suicide bombings and particularly in Istanbul and Ankara, the capital.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala has said 200,000 members of the security forces are maintaining order across Turkey during Newroz, which is also celebrated in Iran and central Asia.
In the latest attack, PKK fighters launched a bomb attack on a military vehicle in the town of Nusaybin near the Syrian border, security sources said. Turkish police yesterday fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of people attending Kurdish New Year celebrations in Istanbul in defiance of a ban on gatherings following a string of terror attacks. This is the first visit of such a highly-ranked Israeli official in Istanbul in several years. France condemned it as “despicable and cowardly”. The PKK’s umbrella group said it opposed targeting civilians and condemned attacks on them.
But shortly afterwards, a 2-1/2-year-old PKK ceasefire collapsed along with peace talks.
Advertisement
A joint counter-terrorism operation by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and police forces aims to captre PKK terrorists, dispose of planted explosives, fill in ditches, and remove barricades following the declaration of a curfew in Turkey’s southeast on March 14.
