Syria's Kurds Deny Involvement in Türkiye Bombing

Arab World

November 15th, 6:17am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Security and ambulances at the scene of an explosion on Istanbul's popular pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, November 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied Monday any role in a deadly bomb attack in central Istanbul that killed six people, which Türkiye has blamed on Kurdish militants. "Our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing," said Mazloum Abdi, the chief commander of the US-allied SDF. Türkiye considers the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the main component of the SDF -- an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara has blamed the PKK, which has waged an insurgency in Türkiye for decades, for carrying out the attack Sunday in Istanbul. The PKK also denied involvement in the attack. There has been no claim of responsibility. The SDF is the de facto army of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria. It provided crucial assistance to a US-led coalition against fighters of the ISIS group. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said "the order for the attack was given from Kobane," referring to a Kurdish-held city in Syria near the Turkish border. Kurdish authorities in Syria accused Türkiye in a statement Monday of "creating pretexts and excuses to prepare the ground for attacking us". Türkiye has launched waves of attacks on Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish militias as well as ISIS extremists, and Ankara and forces backed by it have seized territory along the Syrian border. Since May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a new operation into northern Syria. Turkish police, quoted by Türkiye's NTV television channel, said the main suspect in the bombing on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue was a Syrian woman sent by Kurdish militants. The Kurdish administration said the suspect, identified by Ankara as Alham Albashir, does not appear in any of its registries. Forty-six people were detained in total, Turkish police said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3987701/syrias-kurds-deny-involvement-t%C3%BCrkiye-bombing