PKK militants in Syria ordered attack in Istanbul, perpetrator in Turkish custody admits

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish authorities have claimed that the perpetrator of the deadly attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue took the orders to carry out the heinous act from the YPG/PKK Kurdish nationalist group in Syria.

Footage from 1,200 surveillance cameras showed the perpetrator’s movements until she arrived at Taksim to leave the bomb and then took a taxi from the attack scene to travel to Istanbul’s Esenler district, the Istanbul Police Department said in a statement.

The police raided 21 addresses for people who had been found to be in contact with the Taksim attack perpetrator, it added.

“During the operation, 46 people were caught and arrested, and it was found that the person who left the bomb went to an address in the Kucukcekmece district,” it said.

Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian national who carried out the attack, was captured alive at her address at 2.50 a.m local time on Monday.

In her interrogation by Turkish police, official sources claimed, the suspect said she had been trained as a special intelligence officer by the PKK/PYD/YPG group and she entered Türkiye illegally through Syria’s Afrin.

Albashir admitted that she had carried out the bomb attack at around 4.20 p.m on Sunday, taking the order from the headquarters of the PKK/PYD/YPG in Kobani, Syria.

Earlier on Monday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the perpetrator who left the bomb on the crowded street frequented by shoppers and tourists had been arrested.

World leaders condemned the terrorist attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue that left at least six people dead and 81 injured.