Ahmad Haj Hasan, one of those arrested in connection with the bomb attack on the central Istiklal Avenue in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul on 13 November, said in his police statement that his brother died while fighting in the ranks of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
According to Sözcü newspaper, Ahlam Albashir, who left the bomb at the scene, stayed at Hasan’s house for a short time.
In his statement, Hasan said, “I never supported the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party). My brother was martyred in the FSA. I have nothing to do with this case. I do not accept the accusations,” he said.
Yasir El Korali, who took Albashir to Taksim three times, including on the day of the attack which killed six people, said that he was running an illegal taxi service and added: “I have been living in Turkey for 7 years. My children were born in Turkey. If I had known that this woman would have done such a thing, I would not have taken this woman in my car.” Bomb residues were detected in the vehicle Korali was driving.
Saleh Muslim, northern Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chair, told Kurdish news agency ANF on Wednesday that the perpetrator of the Istanbul bomb attack had connections with the FSA.
Turkish security forces announced that during the police interrogation, Albashir confessed that she had left a bomb at the scene, that she was an intelligence agent trained by the People’s Defence Centre of PKK, PYD and the People’s Defence Units (YPG) and that she had received her instructions from North and East Syria.
However, the accused Kurdish groups condemned the attack targeting civilians and declared that they had no connection with the bombing.
The Department of Foreign Relations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) also denied all involvement and invited international forces to be involved in the investigation.
No other group has yet claimed responsibility.
