Officials arrests suspect in Istanbul blast that killed 6 and injured 81

• A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the explosion that left at least 81 people injured and at least six dead.
• CTV footage depicts a woman sitting on a seat for more than 40 minutes before getting up just before the explosion and leaving a bag or plastic bag behind.
• The explosion took place on Istiklal Street, the center of Turkey’s largest metropolis.

The Turkish interior ministry announced early on Monday that a suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the explosion that left at least 81 people injured and at least six dead in Istanbul on Sunday.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay declared the incident to be a terrorist act on Sunday, according to state news agency Anadolu.

“We consider it to be a terrorist act as a result of an attacker, whom we consider to be a woman, detonating the bomb,” Oktay told reporters Sunday.

According to Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister of Turkey, Kurdish separatists from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) are most likely responsible for the deadly alleged bomb attack.

“It is PKK/PYD terrorist organization according to our preliminary findings,” Soylu said in a press conference at the scene of Sunday’s attack on Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul.

Soylu didn’t go into further depth or give specifics on how investigators came to this conclusion.

“A little while ago the person who left the bomb (was) taken under custody by teams of Istanbul Police Department. Before their arrest 21 more people were also taken under custody,” the minister said. “The face of terrorism is bitter, but we will continue this struggle to the end, whatever the cost is.”

According to Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, CTV footage depicts a woman sitting on a seat for more than 40 minutes before getting up just before the explosion and leaving a bag or plastic bag behind.

Bozdag stated that the woman is being investigated by authorities and that Turkish security agencies believe she is the suspect in an interview with the privately owned A Haber news station.

“There are two possibilities. Either that bag or plastic bag has a mechanism in it, it explodes on its own or someone detonates it from afar. All of these are currently under investigation.” he added.

“The name of the woman is unknown,” he said. “All the recordings and data about the woman are being analyzed.”

According to Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, the explosion took place on Istiklal Street in Beyoglu Square, the center of Turkey’s largest metropolis.

“We wish God’s mercy on those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured,” Yerlikaya tweeted.

According to Derya Yank, the agency’s minister, the six fatalities included Yusuf Meydan and his daughter Ecrin, both employees of Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services.

According to Soylu, the interior minister, 50 of the 81 injured persons have been released from the hospital, while 31 others are still receiving medical care.

Tens of thousands of people have died during the course of Turkey’s four-decade battle with Kurdish separatist parties. Turkey, the United States, and the European Union have all recognised the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

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“In particular, the insincerity of our so-called allies who seem friendly to us, who either hide terrorists in their own country, or feeds terrorists in the areas they occupy and send them money from their own senates, is obvious,” Soylu said.

“We will give them a response in the near future, to those who caused us this pain in Beyoglu Istiklal Street so they experience more and more pain,” Soylu said.

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