Print

Mail

wiki links

Istanbul blasts kill 17, injure more than 150

Investigators were trying to determine yesterday who was behind the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in nearly five years, a twin bombing that killed 17 people and injured more than 150 others in a crowded Istanbul square.

Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said the Sunday night blasts appeared to be linked to a Kurdish rebel group, but added the investigation was continuing. The rebels immediately denied involvement.

“There appears to be a link with the separatist organization. We are working on that. We hope to get a result at the first opportunity,” Guler told reporters yesterday.

However, the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, rejected that claim.

“The Kurdish freedom movement has nothing to do with this event, this cannot be linked to the PKK,” Kurdish rebel leader Zubeyir Aydar was quoted as saying by a pro-Kurdish news agency, Firat. “We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the Turkish people.”

The bombs went off in the residential neighborhood of Gungoren in a busy square closed to traffic where people congregate at night, often bringing their children to eat ice cream or sunflower seeds.

Opposition leader Deniz Baykal said security officials told him the type of bombs used were similar to those used in attacks in Ankara and the mostly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir that were blamed on the PKK.

“I feel deep grief from this cowardly attack that targeted innocent citizens and I curse them with hatred,” said General Yasar Buyukanit, the military chief.

The high level of professionalism in the Istanbul bombings, apparently designed to inflict maximum casualties among civilians, was unsettling. Authorities said the vast majority of the deaths and injuries occurred when a curious crowd gathered after an initial, small blast.

“First, they exploded a percussion bomb to grab attention. Then, 10 minutes later, in another trash can, they exploded a fragmentation bomb,” Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici said.

The Cihan news agency said the second bomb consisted of the same plastic explosive used in a suicide attack in May last year in Ankara that killed seven people.

Cihan said two of those killed on Sunday were children. Anatolia news agency said one victim was a 12-year-old girl who rushed with her parents onto the balcony of their fourth floor apartment to see what was going on.



Also see: Turkish court hears party ban case
This story has been viewed 1152 times.