Toll in Beşiktaş attack rises to 46

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

The death toll in the Dec. 10, 2016, bomb attack outside Beşiktaş’s Vodafone Arena Stadium has risen to 46, with 23-year-old riot police officer Muammer Nacakoğlu, who was heavily wounded in the attack, succumbing to his injuries in hospital, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Nacakoğlu had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of the Bezm-i Alem Research and Training Hospital in Istanbul but died on Jan. 4. 

A bomb-laden vehicle ran into riot police following a match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor on Dec. 10. Just 45 seconds later, a suicide bomber blew himself up at Maçka Park just across from the stadium. Some 37 police officers and seven civilians were killed in the bombings.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the attack that wounded more than 150 people. 

In a statement on its website, TAK said it carried out the attacks for a number of reasons including the continued imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.

After the attack, three parties in Turkey’s parliament issued a statement expressing a consensus on presenting a joint stance against terrorism, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım stated after coming together with opposition leaders on Dec. 14, 2016.