SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkish authorities believe the person who carried out a bomb attack in Istanbul on Sunday is linked to Kurdish militants but they are not ruling out Islamic State ties, a senior Turkish official told Reuters.
The official said that initial findings pointed to the person having connections to the Kurdish militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and European Union.
Turkey blamed Kurdish militants on Monday for an explosion that killed six people in Istanbul and police detained 47 people including a Syrian woman suspected of planting the bomb, but the (PKK) denied involvement.
The PKK said it did not target civilians, in a statement on the PKK-affiliated Roj News website on Monday.
“It is out of the question for us to target civilians in any way,” the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said, refuting Turkey’s claims that it and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast that killed six people.
No group has claimed responsibility so far for Sunday’s blast on the busy pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, which left 81 people wounded.
The PKK has led an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in clashes. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.
