The Turkey Briefing: investigation into Istanbul bombing continues
In this weekly newsletter, Ezgi Akin rounds up the biggest Turkey stories from the region.
At 3:17 p.m. Sunday, a CCTV camera picked up a woman in black hijab and tight camouflage pants walking at Taksim Square. A few minutes later, another camera caught her shopping in a store on Istiklal Street. After sitting on a bench for about 45 minutes, at 16:11 she took out two red roses from her bag and walked away, leaving her bomb-laden backpack behind. At 16:14, as people around her look in the direction of a powerful explosion, she runs back, holding the roses.
She is identified as a foreign national carrying a Syrian passport registered under the name of Ahlam Albashir.
Sunday’s bombing attack rocked the country, killing six people including a 9-year-old girl and wounding 81, only some six months ahead of Turkey’s elections.
Turkish authorities and government officials have blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot People Protection Units (YPG). Both PKK and YPG have denied responsibility, issuing separate statements, as Nazlan Ertan reported here.
