Forty-nine suspects detained in connection with Sunday’s attack by the PKK/YPG terrorist group on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street were transferred to court on Thursday.
Under strict security measures, the suspects, including the woman who planted the explosives at the site of the attack, were first taken to a hospital for medical checks and later to the courthouse.
They are scheduled to appear later in the day before the court, which is expected to formally order their arrests.
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.
A.A., captured arriving at the scene and fleeing on security camera footage, was found hiding in Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece district some 10 hours after the bombing that claimed at least six lives.
An investigation revealed that she was ordered to carry out the attack by the senior cadres of the PKK/YPG in Syria’s Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization. Another suspect identified as B.H., who ordered the prime suspect to carry out the attack, remains at large while two brothers who helped their escape are among the detainees.
In her first questioning by police, A.A. said that she had joined the PKK/PYD through her boyfriend, who is also a member of the terrorist group. She said that she lost touch with her boyfriend, but she has maintained her connection with the terrorist group ever since. Security forces determined that F.H., the owner of the workshop in Istanbul's Esenler district, where A.A. and fugitive suspect B. H. stayed together, was also linked to the terrorist group. F.H. made terrorist propaganda through his social media account and hosted the two suspects in his house upon instructions by the terrorist group, the security sources told Anadolu Agency (AA).