Istanbul blast: Suspect arrested as government blames Kurdish separatists for 'terror attack'
Police have arrested a suspect who is believed to have planted the bomb that exploded on a bustling pedestrian avenue in Istanbul, Turkey’s interior minister said on Monday.
Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying that initial findings indicated Kurdish militants were responsible for the deadly attack.
Authorities said six people were killed and 81 were wounded in Sunday’s explosion on Istiklal Avenue, a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to the iconic Taksim Square.
“A little while ago, the person who left the bomb was detained by our Istanbul Police Department teams,” Soylu said according to Soylu. He did not identify the suspect but said 21 other people were also detained for questioning.
The minister said evidence obtained pointed to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and to its Syrian extension, the PYD.
Hours after the explosion on Sunday afternoon, Vice President Fuat Oktay visited the site to give the latest death and injury toll, and promised to resolve the matter "very soon".
The area, in the Beyoglu district of Turkey's largest city, had been crowded as usual at the weekend with shoppers, tourists and families.
Video footage obtained by Reuters showed the moment the explosion occurred at 4.13 p.m. (14.13 CET), sending debris into the air and leaving several people lying on the ground, while others stumbled away.
Hundreds of people fled the historic Istiklal Avenue after the blast, as ambulances and police raced in.
Authorities later said a government ministry worker and his daughter were among the dead. Five people were in intensive care in hospital, two of them in a critical condition.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the blast
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