'We Do Not Accept US Condolences': Turkish Interior Minister On Instanbul Blast

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu rejected the condolence message of the US and blamed their strategy for the Sunday blast in Istanbul city.

Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu ( Image Source :AFP )

New Delhi: Turkey rejected US condolences over the death of six people in a bomb blast in Istanbul city this Monday. Ankara blamed an outlawed Kurdish militant group for this blast and the death of people, as reported by AFP news agency. 

“We do not accept the US embassy’s message of condolences. We reject it,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in televised comments.

Washington usually gets accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the weapons supply by the US to Kurdish militants in northern Syria, deemed as “terrorists” by Ankara.

“The person who planted the bomb has been arrested,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu further said in a statement broadcasted by the official Anadolu news agency early Monday.

Earlier, the Turkish government blamed the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for carrying out a deadly bomb attack in Istanbul, saying a Syrian woman was in custody suspected of planting the device. Six people were killed and 81 wounded in the blast on the busy shopping street of Istiklal Avenue on Sunday, shortly after 4:00 pm. No one has taken responsibility and claimed the incident till now. A nine-year-old girl, her father, a 15-year-old girl, and her mother were among the people killed in the attack.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the bombing a “vile attack” with the “smell of terror.” Istanbul police detained a total of 46 people on the same day. 

Police footage shared with Turkish media showed a young woman in a purple sweatshirt being apprehended in an Istanbul flat. As per the agency reports, Istanbul police checked 1,200 security cameras and raided over 21 different locations to identify the woman before arresting her.