Turkey has named the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its US-backed affiliate PYD to be behind for a terrorist attack in Istanbul's main shopping street on Sunday that left at least 8 people dead and 81 others wounded.
State broadcaster TRT played footage of a woman, with curly hair and in a purple jumper, being escorted by police after an overnight raid. Earlier television news reports showed a woman leaving a package below a flower bed in the street.
"According to our preliminary findings, the PKK terrorist network is responsible [for this attack]", Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding the order and plot came from Kobani, referring to a Syrian border town that is home to senior members of the PYD and its armed wing YPG.
"Attacker Ahlam Albashir is a Syrian national and confessed her links to the PKK/PYD during the interrogation," Istanbul Police said in a statement.
The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey as well as its Western allies, has kept up deadly terrorist attacks for Kurdish self-rule in south-eastern Turkey since the 1980s.
These groups are also at the heart of a tussle between Finland/Sweden and Turkey, which has been blocking their entry into NATO, accusing it of leniency towards the recognized terrorist organizations and equipping them.
The United States has supported the YPG in the conflict in Syria, raising tension with fellow NATO member Turkey.
Turkish officials the blast to the support provided to the terrorist organizations.
"We do not accept the condolences by the US Embassy," Soylu told reporters, pointing to insincerity.
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag announced that 46 people have been detained so far in connection with the terrorist attack in Taksim.
The attack drew quick condemnation internationally, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO ally Turkey in countering terrorism."
Greece "unequivocally condemn"ed the blast and expressed condolences to the government and people of Turkey.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a message to the Turks: "We share your pain. We stand with you in the fight against terrorism".
"Shaken by news of the despicable bombing in Istanbul targeting innocent civilians," Israeli President Isaac Herzog tweeted in Turkish and English. "The whole world must stand united and firm against terror."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also tweeted in Turkish: "The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain".
Russian President Vladimir Putin "expressed his condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the terrorist attack in Istanbul," Kremlin said.
