Justice minister's resolve after bombings: 'Turkey will win'
An offshoot of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility Sunday for twin bombings in Istanbul that killed more than 35 people hours earlier, the latest in a series of deadly blasts to rock the nation.
A Turkish official vowed the country would not be deterred in its battle against militants. "Eventually, terror, terror organizations and terrorists, will be destroyed," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said. "Turkey will win."
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) cited a number of complaints for its attack, including continued imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, the Anadolu News Agency reported. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.
"Two of our comrades were heroically martyred," TAK said in a statement. Hundreds of Turkish security personnel and thousands of fighters aligned with TAK and PKK have been killed since the PKK restarted its decades-long campaign against the Turkish government almost 18 months ago following the collapse of a fragile truce.
Turkey was observing a national day of mourning Sunday, hours after the blasts near the newly built Besiktas soccer stadium rocked the city. Turkish officials put the death toll at 38; at least 155 people were wounded. Thirty of the victims were police officers.
Thirteen people have been detained in the bombing investigation.
Three people were also detained for social media posts related to the tragedy, and authorities said they were investigating any posts that praise terrorism.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's office issued a statement, reported by the Associated Press and other media outlets, warning that investigators were looking for any "news, comment or shares on press and social media platforms that attempted to praise terrorism or terrorist organizations, serve terrorist organizations’ propaganda, legitimize terrorism or target those who combat terrorism.”
Funeral services started at Istanbul's police headquarters for some of the officers killed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other officials joined police in mourning their comrades as officers carried coffins draped in the Turkish flag.
Yildirim ordered flags to fly at half-staff across the country and at Turkey's foreign missions. Erdogan stressed his commitment to combating terrorism.
"No one should have any doubt about our fight against terrorism," Erdogan said Sunday. "We are the owners of this country, and will not leave it to those scums if they aim to scare us with such attacks."
Groups linked to the PKK have claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months, and Turkey has been cracking down on Kurdish political leaders. The government says the measures are necessary to defend its security, although the U.S. and other Western allies have urged Turkey to respect human rights.
The U.S. and NATO condemned Saturday's attack, which came hours after Istanbul police announced that 35 people were detained as part of a probe into a failed coup attempt in July that left 248 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured. Twenty other suspects were being sought in the coup investigation, Anadolu reported.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the attack Saturday began with a blast from a car bomb that detonated where riot police were located after the match. He said the second explosion apparently was the work of a suicide bomber.
"Security forces will take revenge on those who did this work... on land, at sea, in the air, no matter where," Soylu said.