![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/minister-accuses-kurdish-pkk-after-istanbul-attack-kills-six-wounds-scores/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/maxresdefault-13.jpg&description=The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara as well as its Western allies, has kept up a deadly insurgency for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. Regularly targeted by Turkish military operations, the group is also at the heart of a tussle between Sweden and Turkey, which has been blocking Stockholm's entry into NATO since May, accusing it of leniency towards the PKK. "We believe that it is a terrorist act carried out by an attacker, whom we consider to be a woman, exploding the bomb," Turkey's vice-president Fuat Oktay said. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said: "A woman had been sitting on one of the benches for more than 40 minutes and then she got up." "One or two minutes later, an explosion occurred," he told A Haber television. "There are two possibilities," he said. "There's either a mechanism placed in this bag and it explodes, or someone remotely explodes (it)." "All data on this woman are currently under scrutiny," he said. Mr Soylu's announcement did not add any details about the woman. Turkish cities have been struck by Islamists and other groups in the past. Istiklal Street was hit during a campaign of attacks in 2015-16 that targeted Istanbul and other cities, including Ankara. Those bombings were mostly blamed on the Islamic State group and outlawed Kurdish militants, and killed nearly 500 people and wounded more than 2000. Helicopters flew over the city centre after the attack. Police established a large security cordon to prevent access to the area for fear of a second explosion. Images posted on social media showed the explosion was followed by flames and immediately triggered panic, with people running in all directions. Several bodies were seen lying on the ground nearby. "I was 50-55 metres away, suddenly there was the noise of an explosion. I saw three or four people on the ground," witness Cemal Denizci, 57, told AFP. "People were running in panic. The noise was huge. There was black smoke," he said. Istiklal, in t){kind=link}
Turkey’s interior minister has blamed the Kurdish PKK tentatively for a bombing in a busy Istanbul street that killed six people
Turkey’s interior minister accused the Kurdistan’s Workers’ Party (PKK) on Monday of responsibility ”according to our findings” for a bombing in a busy Istanbul street that killed six people and wounded scores, saying a suspect has been arrested.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in the Indonesian resort island of Bali for a G20 summit of the world’s leading economies shortly after his government accused the PKK of being behind Sunday’s blast, which wounded 81.
He had called the bombing a “vile attack” before leaving for the summit.
“It might be wrong if we say for sure that this is terror but according to first signs … there is a smell of terror there,” Mr Erdogan told a news conference on Sunday.