Turkish authorities accuse a woman from Kobane, where the attack was allegedly organised. At least six people have died and more than 80 wounded. Police arrested 46 suspects. For a Dominican priest in Istanbul, people feel “discouragement and sadness”; he warns against blaming anyone prematurely. The bombing might be the prelude of “pre-election tensions”.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The Turkish government blames the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)[*] for yesterday’s blast that killed six people, wounded another 80, and sent hundreds scrambling to safety in İstiklal Avenue,[†] Beyoğlu, Istanbul’s main shopping street.

Turkish security forces rounded up at least 46 suspects, one of whom is thought to have planted and triggered the device at a distance. A Syrian woman, Ahlam Albashir, allegedly received orders from a Kurdish cell in Kobane.

Fr Claudio Monge, a Dominican, who is parish priest at the Sts Peter and Paul parish church in Istanbul, said the city, in its long history, is “used to such moments” of tensions and violence but “will not stop for this.”

Certainly, today "those who did not need to go out avoided doing so", but "the life of a huge city goes on,” added the clergyman.

People now feel “discouragement and sadness for the victims and those in hospitals,” but it is too early “to know who is behind this action” despite what the government says.

“There are many leads. Hopefully, it won’t spark pre-election tensions and violence like in the past.” The situation is complicated by “strong social tensions and a difficult economic situation.”

Soon after the attack, state-owned TRT television broadcast images of agents taking into custody the main suspect, a woman, at a flat in the city.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu pointed the finger at the PKK and the Syrian-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG),[‡] which Turkey says are a wing of the PKK.

The minister claims that the order to attack came from Kobane and the bomber arrived in Turkey through the Afrin crossing, both towns in northern Syria, scene of large-scale Turkish operations against Kurdish militias.

The woman, with curly hair and a purple sweater with the word New York on it, can be seen entering the police headquarters. Using a police dog, agents searched the house and are said to have found gold, money, and ammunition.

Despite government claims, no group has claimed responsibility so far for the attack; however, some observers fear that a wave of violence might be in the offing, ahead of next year’s presidential elections.

Something similar occurred in November 2015, after a truce between the Turkish government and the PKK broke down. On New Year's Eve in 2017, a bloody attack was also carried at a nightclub in Istanbul.

Other attacks in Turkey’s largest city have been blamed on Kurdish nationalists, Islamic State fighters, and left-wing militants.

For their part, Turkish forces carried out three operations against the YPG in northern Syria, establishing a buffer zone between the two countries under Turkish control.

At the start of 2022, setting the stage for his re-election, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced another large-scale operation; meanwhile, Turkish planes continued to bomb targets in Syria and Iraq, with scores of civilian casualties.

Before leaving for the G20 summit in Bali (15-16 November), Erdogan himself described the attack as a “cowardly” act, saying that its perpetrators will be exposed.

Turkey also dismissed expression of solidarity by certain countries, in particular by the United States, which it slams for supporting Kurdish "terrorists" in the past.

Minister Soylu likened US condolences to “the murderer arriving as one of the first at the scene of the crime.”

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[*] Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan.

[†] Independence Avenue.

[‡] Yekîneyên Parastina Gel.

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