ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Monday afternoon denied responsibility for the deadly Istanbul blast that took place a day prior, after Turkey accused the Kurdish armed group of being behind the attack.
“We have nothing to do with this incident and it is well-known by the public that we would not target civilians directly or approve of actions directed at civilians,” the group said in a statement published by Firat news agency (ANF).
Mazloum Abdi, top commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), rejected claims of the forces being involved in the deadly Istanbul explosion, adding that he sends his condolences to the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.
A deadly explosion rocked Istanbul’s famous Istiklal Street on Sunday afternoon, killing at least six people, including two girls aged nine and 15, and injuring a further 81.
The suspect was identified as Ahlam Albashir, a 23-year-old Syrian woman who Turkey says crossed the Turkish border through Afrin in northwest Syria and carried out the attack with alleged orders from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish armed group designated by Ankara as a terrorist organization and the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.
Albashir was arrested by Turkish security forces at 2:50 am in an Istanbul house, and state-owned Anadolu Agency said she was a trained PKK special intelligence officer. During the ensuing raids by Turkish police following the bombing, 46 other people were arrested in total.
“Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ayn al-Arab [Kobani] in northern Syria, where the PKK/YPG has its Syrian headquarters,” Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
The PKK reiterated its complete denial for involvement in the attack and said “us targeting the civilian population in any way is definitely out of the question.”
Turkey also rejected condolences from the United States following the attack, with Ankara having frequently accused Washington of supplying the YPG in northern Syria with weapons.
“We do not accept the US embassy’s message of condolences. We reject it,” Soylu said.
Four Iraqi tourists were also wounded as a result of the blast, according to the consulate in Istanbul.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani extended his condolences to Turkey following the explosion, describing it as a “heinous terrorist attack” on the “friendly Turkish people.”
Turkey to retaliate
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has eyed a fresh offensive on northern Syria since late May, when he announced that his country’s army is making preparations to embark on yet another military operation aimed at completing the 30 kilometer deep “safe zone” it planned in northern Syria years ago.
“We will retaliate against those who are responsible for this heinous terror attack,” Interior Minister Soylu said.
Following Erodgan’s statement in May, Ankara greatly upped its attacks against Kurdish forces in northern Syria, sending alarming threats of the looming operation aimed at expelling the YPG from the region.
Turkey and its Syrian proxies have carried out at least two major military operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria in recent years, invading Afrin in 2018 as well as Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) in 2019.
