Bomb blast in Istanbul targets police, wounds 16

ISTANBUL

The bomb explosion happened in early morning hours yesterday close to the Istanbul district office of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP). DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

A remote-control bomb injured 15 police officers and one civilian in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district yesterday morning, Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın said.

The location of the attack was close to the Istanbul district office of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) in Beyoğlu’s Sütlüce neighborhood.

The bomb was allegedly placed at the scene on a motorbike and was detonated as a police bus passed by on İmrahor Street.

The bike was reportedly left in front of a construction site at first, but workers on the site moved it because it was blocking the way.

Two vehicles were also damaged in the blast.

There were no reports of serious injuries, Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said, adding that the bomb was made of plastic explosives and was detonated by a remote control.

PM condemns attack

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack, saying such activities would not disturb the steady path of the country.

“I believe that terrorism will weaken every day with the coordinated works of our security units,” Erdoğan said.

A similar attack carried out in May last year wounded nearly a dozen people.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, also condemned the attack and said such crimes were acts of terrorism.

“I harshly condemn the bomb attack toward the police and civilians. The fact that it occurred while a police vehicle was passing by is an act of terrorism and a crime against humanity,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a written statement.

MÜSİAD also condemned the attack and said it was directed toward destroying the unity of Turkey but had failed to do so.

The leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli said those who are responsible for the attck should be found immediately. The AKP is responsible for finding the criminals, Bahçeli said.

EU response to attack

Meanwhile, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten also condemned the bomb attack in a written statement.

Ria Oomen-Ruijten released a statement in which she shared agonies of those injured in Thursday’s attack on police in Istanbul.
 
In her statement, Oomen-Ruijten said the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs condemned all terrorist attacks in its report published earlier on Thursday, and called on Turkey and European Union member states to boost their cooperation in fight against terrorism.