DNA sample taken from ISIL suspect’s father in Istanbul attack probe

ISTANBUL

Authorities have taken blood samples from the father of Savaş Y., a suspected member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in a probe into a suicide bomb attack in Istanbul on March 19 that killed five. 

Doğan News Agency reported that authorities were investigating the possibility that Savaş Y., a 33-year-old who was being investigated for his role in bomb attacks against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) buildings in Mersin and Adana on May 18, 2015, might have been responsible for the March 19 attack. 

According to allegations, Savaş. Y. was behind the bombings in Mersin and Adana, which injured three people, and fled to Syria after the attacks. He was included on a list prepared by the police of four suspected ISIL members who infiltrated Turkey from Syria and were planning suicide attacks. 

Blood samples from his father, who resides in Adana, were taken and sent to Istanbul for DNA tests to determine whether the body found at the scene was that of Savaş Y., Doğan reported. 

The March 19 assault on central Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue killed five, including three Israelis and one Iranian, and wounded 36 others.