Istanbul attack: Turkish government announces the arrest of 22 people

Turkish forensic teams at the scene of the explosion on the evening of November 13, 2022.

AFP - YASIN AKGUL

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

In Turkey, an explosion hit, this Sunday, November 13 in the afternoon, a very busy artery in Istanbul, Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian and shopping avenue.

An official report puts six people dead and 81 injured at this stage, two of them in serious condition.

The Turkish government describes the explosion as a "

 terrorist act 

" and announces that suspects have been arrested. 

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With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Anne Andlauer

Behind this first terrorist attack to hit Istanbul for almost six years, the Turkish authorities accuse the PKK – the Kurdistan Workers' Party – and its Syrian offshoot, the PYD.

Süleyman Soylu, Minister of the Interior, announced the arrest of 22 people during the night, including the one accused of planting the bomb in the middle of Istiklal Avenue at a busy hour on Sunday 13 November. 

Sitting on a bench

Süleyman Soylu did not give details of his identity.

But Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag earlier claimed it was a woman and that she sat on a bench in the avenue for a long time, put a bag on it and then left the scene. a minute or two before the explosion.

The Turkish authorities also believe that the bomb attack was prepared in Syria.

According to the Minister of the Interior, the order was given from Kobané, a town on the Turkish-Syrian border under the control of Kurdish forces, and the author of the attack would have " 

passed through Afrin

 ", another town in Northern Syria that the Turkish army has controlled since an offensive against these same Kurdish forces in January 2018.

" 

Vile attack

 "

The six people killed in the attack belonged to three different families.

Two of them were children.

“ 

The perpetrators of this vile attack will be unmasked.

Let our people be sure

(that they)

will be punished

 ”, promised President Erdogan who had already faced a campaign of terror across the country in 2015 - 2016.

The PKK is also at the heart of a showdown between Sweden and Turkey, which has been blocking Stockholm's entry into NATO since May, accusing it of leniency towards this Kurdish party.

►Also read

: Turkey: a deadly attack strikes Istanbul in the heart

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  • Turkey

  • Terrorism

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan

  • Kurds