On Monday, the Turkish Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, announced that a Kurdish-Syrian Woman who planted a bomb on Istiklal Street in Istanbul, killing at least six people, has been arrested. Soylu accused the PKK of responsibility for the deadly attack in Istanbul. Directly after the announcement, the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi denied any involvement in the blast.
Abdi said in a tweet, “We affirm that our forces [SDF] have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing and reject the allegations accusing our forces of that. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the missing and the Turkish people, and we wish a speedy recovery for the injured.”
BALADI NEWS: Will Erdogan Enter Aleppo?
The opposition website Baladi News has reported that Turkey will take advantage of the recent Istanbul bombing to expand and carry out its attacks against the SDF in the areas under its control in northern Syria. Such an operation could allow the Turkish president to exert more influence on the Aleppo governorate.
The pro-government newspaper al-Watan has said that Syria condemns terrorism wherever it is. Foreign minister Faisal al-Mekdad warned, however the Turkish administration against any exploitation of this incident and not to invoke such events to carry out activities or steps that may worsen the current situation.
ATHR PRESS: Turkey to Get Closer to Damascus?
The pro-government newspaper Athr Press has said the attack could speed up the rapprochement between Turkey and Syria. The newspaper did not rule out “the implementation of the 1998 Adana Agreement proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a ground and key to the return of Syrian-Turkish relations and the achievement of security for the two countries.” A Turkish official said on Tuesday that “Turkey intends to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes the operation against PKK militants in northern Iraq” after the Istanbul explosion. This is particularly true since, according to Athr Press, Turkey suspects U.S. involvement in the attack.
DAILY SABAH: Turkey Arrests Another Suspect in Syria
The Pro-Erdogan Daily Sabah said that on Wednesday evening, Turkish security forces captured another suspect linked to the bombing in Syria’s Azaz, which is controlled by Syrian opposition forces. The suspect code-named “Hüsam” was identified through the initial testimony of the prime suspect, identified as A.A.
A.A is the Syrian national who placed the explosives on the busy street. Hüsam is accused of aiding and abetting the bomber. According to investigators, he had been living in Istanbul since last year and helped plot the bombing before fleeing to Syria after the attack. He is scheduled to be brought into Türkiye.
