At least six people were killed and 81 others injured after an explosion hit Istanbul’s popular Istiklal Street on Sunday, Turkish authorities have confirmed.
Turkish officials are investing the incident as a terrorist attack. “We consider it to be a terrorist act as a result of an attacker, whom we consider to be a woman, detonating the bomb,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay told reporters.
The blast occurred at about 16:20 local time (13:20 GMT) on a shopping street in the Taksim Square area which was crowded with shoppers, tourists, and families.
Ambulances rushed to the scene on packed Istiklal Avenue, which police quickly cordoned off after the blast.
Istanbul city’s Governor Ali Yerlikaya confirmed multiple casualties and said: “We pray for God’s mercy on those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Erdogan says attack ‘smells like terrorism’
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that initial signs pointed to a “terror” attack.
“It may be wrong if we say this is definitely terror but according to preliminary findings, what my governors told us, that there is a smell of terror here,” he said in a news conference before his departure for Indonesia to attend the G-20 summit.
“Initial observations show a woman played a role in the explosion,” he said and stated that “based on initial information from the governor, the explosion could be suspected act of terrorism.”
He added that the Turkish authorities are working to find the perpetrators behind this heinous attack.
A Turkish journalist commenting on Istanbul attack told TVI Today that “the terrorist strike on innocent tourists and civilians today confirmed Turkiye’s fears that extremists take undue advantages of freedom and democracy and hit whenever they get a chance.” Ankara has been urging on Middle Eastern and European states to keep tight control and deny safe haven to them.
Istanbul and other Turkish cities have been targeted in the past by Kurdish separatists, Islamist militants, and other groups, including in a series of attacks in 2015 and 2016.