The Department of Foreign Relations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) denied any involvement in the bomb attack on Istiklal Avenue in the central Beyoğlu district of Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, which killed six people and injured dozens.
Describing the explosion as terrorist attack, AANES claimed that Turkey is trying to manipulate public opinion to launch attacks against North and East Syria, and denounced the attack, North Press Agency reported.
Calling on international powers to form a neutral international fact-finding committee to uncover circumstances of the case and reveal findings to the public, AANES added, “We also call on the public not to believe these false allegations.”
The Foreign Relations Department stated that Turkey’s accusations against AANES are “far from reality”, noting that they don’t have any record of Ahlam Albashir, the suspect of the bomb attack.
AANES argued that Turkey aims to hide its internal crises, and added: “The Turkish state should review its own policies because the Turkish regime has supported terrorists and gangs and is linked to them.”
Turkey claimed that the AANES and its military wing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were connected with the bomber on Monday.
After Turkish police arrested a female suspect in an overnight operation following the bomb attack, Turkish authorities announced that she entered the country from Syria to carry out the bombing on Kurdish orders.
Turkish officials said that the suspect Ahlam Albashir confessed to being an intelligence agent of the People’s Defence Centre of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Defence Units (YPG) and received instructions from North and East Syria.
After Turkey’s statements, the accused Kurdish groups shared their public statements that they had no involvement with the attack.
Meanwhile, a Turkish official told Reuters that the possibility of ISIS being responsible for the attack is “not entirely disregarded.”
