After Sunday’s attack in Istanbul, Turkish police arrested 17 people in connection with Kurdish PKK fighters, according to Turkish media. At the beginning of the week, they were 51 people arrested.
Among these 17 people is Ahlam Albashir, the young woman of Syrian nationality accused of having planted the bomb on a bench on Istiklal Avenue, in the heart of Istanbul’s most popular Taksim district.
The young woman, aged 23, admitted the facts while in police custody, declaring that she had been in contact with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2017, through her ex-boyfriend, and allegedly kept a connection with the organization after their split, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency, citing the police report.
The PKK and the YPG (People’s Protection Units), a Kurdish militia active in Syria and accused by Turkey of being affiliated with the PKK, did not claim responsibility for this attack which left 6 dead and 81 injured including two Moroccan tourists .