But security sources say Islamic State militants may be behind the attack. May 1 International Labor Day demonstrations in the city were canceled for security reasons, the private Dogan news agency reported.
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Some reports said gunfire was heard after the blast, which occurred at about 09:30 local time (07:30 CET).
In a separate incident Sunday, a vehicle bomb was detonated in front of a police station in Gaziantep, another Turkish city near the Syrian border.
Turkey has suffered attacks recently both from Kurdish militants and Islamic State fighters, raising uncertainty at home and among North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies about spillover of conflict from neighbouring Syria.
On Sunday, four rockets fired from Syria wounded eight people in the Turkish border town of Kilis, where the Syrian conflict regularly spills over.
The wider province of Kilis borders territory contested by ISIS militants, anti-government Syrian rebels and Kurdish factions.
The bomber “is a member of a terrorist organisation linked to Daesh”, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said in televised remarks, using an alternative name for the jihadist group. Up to 50 people were detained for questioning in the city over the attack, he added. In the other two attacks 3 soldiers were killed and dozens wounded.
Several security sources also said police had received intelligence on the attack on Saturday and had ordered officers not to gather in front of the station as they deployed for May Day celebrations, a move which may have prevented a higher toll.
The news agency said the Turkish military retaliated by firing at IS targets across the border in Syria, killing nine militants.
Four drones took off from Turkey’s Incirlik air base, used by the US-led global coalition for air raids on the IS group, killing 29 extremists, Anatolia said.
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Meanwhile, another Kurdish militant group, known as the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Bursa, Turkey’s fourth largest city, which wounded 13 people on Wednesday.
