Police find searched-for car with bomb set-up in Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University

Çetin Aydın/Fırat Alkaç – ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

A passenger car loaded with a bomb mechanism but no bombs, allegedly planned to be used in a terror attack similar to the recent Ankara suicide bombing, was seized by police at Boğaziçi University late on Feb. 26. 

Police had already been warned about the car, after the detention in Istanbul of a suspect, nicknamed “Arab Yakut,” on Feb. 23 over allegedly selling three cars for use in terrorist attacks.

One of these cars was used in an explosion in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli district in front of a police department building, while a second one exploded on a roadside in Adana with no casualties. The third was used in the Feb. 17 attack on military buses in Ankara that killed at least 29 people.

After questioning “Arab Yakut,” police started to search for a fourth car with the license plate “34 HF 3100” and a broken bumper. 

The Security General Directorate has also sent a notice to provincial security directorate offices across Turkey calling on all forces to search for a car with the license plate “42 PRS 60.” 

In the notice, it was said that a suspect, identified by the initials Ş.O., drove the car to Istanbul from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır along with another suspect, identified as B.Ç. 

The duo later returned to Diyarbakır, leaving the car in Istanbul. 

The car was later seen crossing to the European side of Istanbul on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet (FSM) Bridge over the Bosphorus. A call was then made about a suspicious car in the parking lot of Boğaziçi University’s Northern Campus on Feb. 26, and after the car was identified bomb disposal experts were called to the scene. 

The campus was completely evacuated during the operation, while a police helicopter flew over the area. Initial inspections found a bomb set-up without explosives in the car. 

Earlier this year, a similar incident took place in the Boğaziçi campus when Sinem Oğuz, who was carrying a fake ID with the name “Funda Kaya,” was arrested in connection to an attempted car bomb attack. 

According to police, two double-license plated cars were set up for explosives that were expected to arrive from Diyarbakır. The car was driven into the university’s parking lot by a worker at the university, identified by the initials R.Ü., who subsequently went missing.

Oğuz, a suspected member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), reportedly fled to Diyarbakır and was arrested along with one other suspect on Jan. 27.  

The Boğaziçi University Rector’s Office later announced that R.Ü. had been discharged from the school.