The Turkish government claims that the author is a woman originally from Kobane, where the Kurdish cell that allegedly organized the attack would operate. The balance is at least six dead and more than 80 injured and the police arrested 46 suspects. Dominican priest living in Istanbul: “sadness and discouragement” prevail, it is premature to speculate on the matrices, they fear a “semester of violence before the elections”.
Istanbul () – The Turkish government points to the Kurdish PKK militias as responsible for the attack that shook Istanbul, the country’s economic and commercial capital, yesterday afternoon, leaving six dead and more than 80 injured. The Security Forces have so far detained 46 suspects, including the person believed to be responsible for placing and activating the remote bomb: a woman identified as Ahlam Albashir, of Syrian origin, who allegedly acted on orders received. from the Kobane cell.
contacted the priest Claudio Monge, of the Dominican order, who for some time has been the parish priest of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Istanbul. Father Monge speaks of a “megalopolis that is used to experiencing moments like this”, of tension and violence, throughout its history, but “it does not stop for that”. Of course, today “those who did not need to go out have avoided doing so”, continues the religious, but “life in this enormous city goes on”. At this moment, “a feeling of discouragement and sadness for the victims and hospitalized people” prevails, although it seems “premature”, despite the government’s statements, “to risk statements about the matrix of the attack and the claims, because there are many clues. Everyone hopes – he warns – that this does not mean the beginning of a process that will continue until the elections. Recent history leads to fears of a semester of attacks and violence prior to the vote”, to which at this moment is added “a tense social situation and a difficult economic situation.
In these hours, the public television TRT is showing images of agents who carry out a night raid and take a woman who is considered the main suspect from a city apartment. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu bluntly points to responsibility at the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish-YPG militias, which Ankara says are a faction of the PKK. The target of the attack has been the historic and busy Istiklal Avenue, in the Beyoglu district.
According to the minister, the order to attack came from Kobane and the terrorist arrived in Turkey through the Afrin pass, both towns in northern Syria that in the past have been the scene of vast Ankara military operations against Kurdish militias. A curly-haired woman wearing a purple sweater with the words ‘New York’ on it can be seen entering police headquarters.
Agents and police dogs searched the house and found gold, money and ammunition.
Despite the proclamations -and certainties- of the government, so far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, after which hundreds of people fled in terror. They fear that the country could suffer a wave of attacks before the 2023 presidential elections, as happened in the November 2015 elections, preceded by the breakdown of the ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK in the middle of the year. One of the bloodiest attacks was the attack on a nightclub, also in Istanbul, which is known as the “2017 New Year’s Eve massacre.”
The metropolis has already been the scene in the past of attacks by Kurdish rebels, cells of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and factions attributable to the galaxy of the militant left. For its part, the Turkish army carried out three special operations in northern Syria against the YPG that led to the creation of a buffer zone between the two countries, under Turkish control. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already in full electoral climate, had announced at the beginning of the year a new large-scale operation, at the same time that there are innumerable and continuous air strikes that he carries out in Syria and Iraq and have caused (also) numerous civilian casualties. On the eve of his departure for the G20 in Bali, Erdogan spoke of a “cowardly attack” whose perpetrators “will be unmasked.” Finally, Turkey rejected the solidarity shown by various countries after the attack, in particular the condolences expressed by the United States, guilty of having supported Kurdish “terrorists” all these years. Minister Soylu compared Washington to “the killer who is one of the first to arrive at the scene of the crime.”
