Istanbul Explosion – Police detained Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian citizen, in connection with the Istanbul bombing. The suspect allegedly arrived in Istanbul nearly four months ago.
A bomb exploded in a shopping street in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 13, 2022. The bombing is classified as a terrorist act. The explosion killed six people and injured 81 others.
Taksim Square is located on Istiklal Avenue, a well-known tourist attraction. The area was more crowded than usual on the day because the football club was preparing to play nearby.
In an instant, a calm Sunday with a crowded street full of tourists appeared to be the aftermath of a war zone.
Ahlam Albashir, The Suspect In The Istanbul Explosion, Arrived In Istanbul Four Months Ago
The suspect was detained on 14 November 2022 during the Istanbul bombing attack.
Police detained Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian citizen. She was accused of leaving the bomb. The suspect came to Istanbul nearly four months ago and worked in a textile business until the day of the explosion, reports associated press.
The attacker lived with two more Syrians in the district of Esenler. The Police said the woman admitted that she was trained by Kurdish fighters in Syria and came to Turkey via northwest Syria’s Afrin region.
According to authorities, the Syrian woman would have fled to Greece if she had not been detained.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu disclosed that the suspect blamed Kurdish militants for the attack. Along with the bomb planter, Police detained 47 more suspicious people.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) later denied involvement in the incident. PKK said they wouldn’t directly target civilians. No Party or group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
The Istanbul Police Department reviewed around 1,200 security cameras, and raids were carried out in 21 areas. News also showed images of a person who looked like the woman leaving a package under a raised flower bed on the historic street.
Furthermore, CCTV postage showed a woman sitting on a bench for 45 minutes and leaving a bag behind. Two minutes after she left, the bomb went off.
Istanbul Explosion: Aftermath and Victims
Following the blast, bodies were seen scattered on the site. The blast site was flooded with emergency response personnel.
One of the eyewitnesses, Cemal Denizci, said the panic started as soon as the bomb went off, there was black smoke, and the noise was almost deafening.
A football match between Besiktas and Antalyaspor was postponed following the incident. The country banned all the broadcasting of images and videos from the explosion in the country’s media.
All six people who died in the explosion were identified as Turkis citizens. They are Yusuf Meydan and his nine-year-old daughter. Meydan was a member of the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
Other victims are a mother and her teenage daughter and a married couple. Five of the 81 injured people were under intensive care, with two in serious condition, said Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter.
Istiklal Opens Its Doors
The entrance to Istiklal avenue was blocked temporality. The site was decorated with 1,200 Turkish flags a day after the incident. It was a way of remembering the victims of the bombing. In addition, tree benches in the area were removed.
Although the area was not as bustling as usual, there were still plenty of people, including pedestrians, and a heavy Police presence. People left red carnations in memory of the victims.
Governor Mustafa Demirel told the media that they left the flowers both in memory of the victims and to send a message that “Istiklal is back to its lively days.”