Wanted female militant met suspect who bought car used in Istanbul bomb attacks: Report

ISTANBUL

A female militant who is currently being sought for her alleged links to a deadly Istanbul bomb attack outside Beşiktaş football club’s Vodafone Arena on Dec. 10, 2016, previously met with the suspect who bought the car used in the attack, daily Sabah has reported.

Turfan Beyhan, who was arrested as part of an investigation into the attack, met with the female militant twice three weeks before the attack, according to testimonies from his relatives.

Beyhan’s sister said his brother met with a girl in her 20s whom they had never seen before at their house twice three weeks before the attack, the report said.

Beyhan’s mother, meanwhile, said her son did not come home for a week after the Eid al-Adha holiday and that his phone had been turned off.

Another friend also said Beyhan went to an outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camp in a rural area and met suspect Zeki Yılmaz, who has also been arrested, remaining there for around six days.

It has also been revealed that Beyhan did not know how to drive as he had never had enough income to afford to buy a car.

Previously, it had been reported that the three militants carried out reconnaissance tours near the scene for five hours and that the female militant later got out of the car hours before the attack.

The bomb-laden vehicle crashed into riot police stationed outside Vodafone Arena following a match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor. Some 45 seconds later, a second militant blew himself up at Maçka Park near the stadium.

A total of 46 people, including 38 police officers, were killed in the attack, which was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an offshoot linked to the PKK.