At least six killed in Istanbul bomb blast
Turkish president vows to punish perpetrators after explosion in one of the city’s busiest streets
An explosion rocked Istanbul’s busiest shopping street yesterday, killing at least six people and injuring 53 more in what the Turkish government suspects was a terrorist attack. Istiklal Avenue was packed at 4pm local time, with video footage at the scene showing crowds screaming and running away after the blast. Ambulances rushed to the scene and helicopters were seen hovering overhead. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, said: “There is a smell of terrorism here.”
AN EXPLOSION rocked Istanbul’s bestknown shopping street yesterday, killing at least six and injuring 81 in what the Turkish government suspects was a terrorist attack.
Istiklal Avenue, one of the capital’s busiest streets, was thronged with crowds at 4pm local time when video footage taken at the scene captured crowds screaming and running away after the blast.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and helicopters were seen hovering overhead.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into the incident but stopped short of saying what caused it. However, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, hinted that it was a deliberate attack, the first in Istanbul for almost six years. “Our nation should make sure the perpetrators of the incident on Istiklal Avenue will be punished as they deserve,” he told a news conference.
“It would be wrong to say for sure this is terrorism but the initial developments, initial information conveyed to us by the governor [suggests] there is a smell of terrorism here.”
He did not mention what might indicate terrorists were responsible but said “initial observations show that a woman played a role in the explosion”.
Part of Istiklal Avenue was cordoned off yesterday afternoon as nonchalant tourists and locals continued to stroll in and out of stores with shopping bags.
Authorities did not immediately identify the cause of the explosion, but it evoked a 2016 attack in the same street in which four people were killed and 36 injured in a suicide bombing linked to the Islamic State (IS) group. Istanbul experienced a series of devastating terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016 that was attributed to the militants. Security measures in the city that hosts millions of tourists each year have since been tightened. All shopping centres in the city are equipped with metal detectors, and armed police and armoured vehicles typically patrol the main tourist areas.
Yesterday evening authorities moved to rein in independent reporting of the incident, with the country’s Board for Radio and Television announcing a blanket ban on coverage, effectively banning local media from distributing images of the blast or reporting details not contained in official bulletins.
Internet users in Istanbul have experienced difficulties getting online and accessing social media – particularly Twitter, which could be accessed only via a virtual private network.
Turkey’s communications watchdog confirmed it has been throttling social media traffic to block images “violating press ethics and (spreading) terrorist content”.
The bombing could dent the standing of President Erdoğan, who has taken credit for halting terrorist attacks in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country of 85 million people. It could also embolden Turkey’s hard-liners, who have advocated for another incursion into Syria and a tougher approach towards Kurdish militants.
The incident came at the end of a fraught year for Turkey, which is facing an acute cost of living crisis and a spiralling inflation that have weighed heavy on Mr Erdoğan’s chances of re-election next year. Opposition figures, including Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor, and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the Republican People’s Party, offered their condolences to those whose loved ones died in the attack.
‘Initial information conveyed to us by the governor [suggests] terrorism is involved’