The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s office pointed to the Kurdish-led Syrian group People’s Defence Units (YPG) in the indictment for the explosion in Istanbul’s popular İstiklal Avenue, ignoring the main suspect’s links to the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).
The indictment calls for seven counts of life imprisonment without parole for Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman who was caught on camera placing the bomb that killed six and wounded dozens in November, and Bilal al-Hajmaos, who appears to be her handler.
It also points to a “high level administrator for the YPG/PYD code named Hacı” as the person who organised Albashir’s travel to Turkey, while calling for up to 3,016 years in prison for Cemil Bayık, a founding member and current executive council member for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkey considers the YPG to be an offshoot of the PKK, which it designates a terrorist group. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, where the YPG operates, has denied any involvement and accused Turkey of manipulating public opinion.
While the indictment includes excerpts from Albashir’s initial statement where she said she travelled to Syria’s Manbij, which is under YPG control, accompanied by her brother Muhammed, it leaves out the fact that she linked him with the FSA.
“Muhammed was wounded in an Islamic State (ISIS) attack, and after treatment he returned to the FSA,” Albashir said in her first statement in police custody, published by journalist İsmail Saymaz.
Albashir also said she was arrested and spent a month in custody for spying against the YPG as she travelled from Jarablus to Manbij.
Pro-government newspaper Sabah published excerpts from Albashir’s statement at the time, including that she had said her brother Muhammed was “a high-level commander in the FSA”. Halk TV, a left-leaning media group, reported that several clerks involved in the transcription of the bomber’s statement had been moved sideways as the incident sparked tensions between the Interior and Justice Ministries.
Another suspect told the police while in custody that his brother had died while fighting in the ranks of the FSA.
There are 26 people under arrest in relation to the attack, while the indictment charges a total of 36 suspects with terrorism, first degree murder and human trafficking.
