Toll in Beşiktaş attack rises to 45

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

The death toll of the Dec. 10 bomb attack outside Beşiktaş’s Vodafone Arena Stadium has risen to 45, with riot police officer Ufuk Bozgeyik, who was heavily wounded in the attack, succumbing to his injuries at hospital.  

Bozgeyik had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of the Bağcılar Research and Training Hospital in Istanbul but died on Dec. 20. 

A bomb-laden vehicle ran into riot police following a match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor on Dec. 10. Only 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), has 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.