Turkish authorities consider explosion as a terrorist attack 2:27
(CNN) --
A suspect is in custody in connection with an explosion that killed at least six people and injured at least 81 others in Istanbul on Sunday, Turkey's Interior Ministry said early Monday.
The incident has been considered a terrorist attack, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sunday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
“We consider this to be a terrorist act as a result of an attacker, who we consider to be a woman, detonating the bomb,” Oktay told reporters on Sunday.
Turkish authorities believe Kurdish separatists from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) were likely behind the suspected deadly bomb attack, the country's interior minister told reporters on Monday. , Suleyman Soylu.
"It is a PKK/PYD terrorist organization according to our preliminary findings," Soylu told a news conference at the site of Sunday's attack on Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul.
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Soylu did not elaborate or provide details of how the researchers came to this conclusion.
“A short time ago, the person who left the bomb (was) arrested by teams from the Istanbul Police Department.
Before his arrest, 21 more people were also arrested, ”said the Minister of the Interior.
"The face of terrorism is bitter, but we will continue this fight to the end, whatever it takes."
Explosion in Istanbul leaves at least 6 dead and 53 injured 2:16
CCTV footage shows a woman sitting on a bench for more than 40 minutes and then getting up a minute or two before the blast, leaving a plastic bag or bag behind, according to Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.
Bozdag, who made the comments in an interview with private news channel A Haber, said Turkish security forces believe the woman is the suspect and authorities are investigating her.
"There are two possibilities.
Either that bag or plastic bag has a mechanism inside, it explodes on its own, or someone detonates it from afar.
All of these are currently under investigation,” she added.
"The woman's name is unknown," he said.
"All recordings and data on the woman are being analyzed."
Ambulances and police rush to the scene in a bustling part of Istanbul.
(Credit: Kemal Aslan/Reuters).
The blast occurred on Istiklal Street in Beyoglu Square, in the heart of Turkey's largest city, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said.
"We wish God's mercy for those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery for the injured," Yerlikaya tweeted.
The six people killed include Yusuf Meydan, a member of Turkey's Ministry of Family and Social Services, and his daughter Ecrin, according to Derya Yanık, a minister with the agency.
Soylu, the interior minister, said Monday that 50 of the 81 injured people have been discharged from hospital, and 31 people are still being treated.
Turkey's conflict with Kurdish separatist groups has lasted four decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
"In particular, the insincerity of our so-called allies who seem friendly to us, who hide terrorists in their own country, or feed terrorists in the areas they occupy and send money to them from their own senates, is obvious," Soylu said. .
"We will give an answer in the near future, to those who caused us this pain on Beyoglu Istiklal Street to experience more and more pain," Soylu said.
"It looked like the aftermath of a war zone"
Tariq Keblaoui, a witness to the blast, said he was shopping on Istiklal Street when the blast hit about 10 meters in front of him.
"People dispersed immediately," said Keblaoui, a Lebanese journalist on his last day of vacation in the city.
"Soon after, I could see how many wounded people were on the ground," Keblaoui told CNN.
He says that he saw dead bodies and seriously injured victims.
Turkish police and explosives experts work the scene of the explosion Sunday.
(Credit: Hitham Dahman/CNN)
"There was a man in the store who was bleeding from his ears and legs, and his friends were crying near him," Keblaoui said.
Istiklal Street was packed with visitors when the explosion happened on Sunday afternoon, he said.
"It went very quickly from a very peaceful Sunday with a very busy street full of tourists to what looked like the aftermath of a war zone," Keblaoui said.
Several countries condemned the attack in Turkey
The news of the explosion provoked an outpouring of condolences around the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose own country suffered a deadly terrorist attack exactly seven years earlier, shared his condolences for the Turkish people.
"On this very symbolic day for our Nation, as we think of the victims who fell on November 13, 2015, the Turkish people suffer an attack in their heart, Istanbul," Macron tweeted on Sunday.
“To the Turks: we share your pain.
We are with you in the fight against terrorism.”
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, shared his condolences after the deadly explosion on Sunday.
"Horrible news from Istanbul tonight," he said.
"All our thoughts are with those who are currently responding and the people of Türkiye at this most distressing time."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted his "deepest condolences" to the Turkish people, adding that NATO "stands in solidarity with our ally" Turkey.
The United States "strongly condemns the act of violence that took place in Istanbul today," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Sunday.
"Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted his "deep sadness" at the news of the explosion.
"I offer my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," Zelensky said.
"The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain."
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