The Latest: Kurdish militant group claims Istanbul bombings
ISTANBUL — The Latest on the twin explosions near an Istanbul soccer stadium on Saturday night (all times local):
6:05 p.m.
A Kurdish militant group has claimed responsibility for twin bombings that killed 38 people outside an Istanbul stadium and wounded scores of others.
In a statement posted on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, said two of their comrades had sacrificed their lives.
The Turkey-based group is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The TAK said Saturday’s attack shortly after the conclusion of a soccer match was reprisal for violence in the southeast and the ongoing imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
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5:20 p.m.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is presiding over a government security meeting in Istanbul to discuss Saturday night’s deadly bombings near a soccer stadium.
Erdogan has vowed that those behind the twin bombings would be caught and face a heavy penalty. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as well as several other cabinet ministers were at the security meeting.
At parliament, meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party, the opposition Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Movement Party are reading a joint declaration condemning terrorism.
The car-and suicide-bombing near Istanbul’s Besiktas stadium killed 38 people, mostly police, and wounded 155 people. No group has claimed responsibility but Turkish officials are pointing fingers at Kurdish rebels.
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3:55 p.m.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s office says three people have been detained for social media posts regarding Saturday night’s attack in Istanbul that killed 38 people.
In addition to 13 suspects detained as part of the investigation into the twin bombings, the prosecutor’s office said it was investigating 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.”
The statement noted that three suspects had been detained for this so far and authorities were working to apprehend others.
The car-and suicide-bombing near Istanbul’s Besiktas stadium killed mostly police officials, also wounded 155 people and has enraged Turkey’s top leadership.
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2:40 p.m.
Turkey’s private NTV channel is showing more than 100 flag-carrying demonstrators marching along Istanbul’s coastline toward the stadium that was the site of deadly attacks a night earlier.
After attending the funeral for some of the police officers who were among the 38 people killed in the latest bombings, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the hospital where dozens of the wounded are being treated.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Constitutional Court issued a statement condemning the “nefarious terrorist attack” and wishing God mercy’s for the dead and a speedy recovery for the wounded. It says “these attacks which target our country’s peace will never reach their goals.”
Twin blasts in Istanbul on Saturday night killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium. No group has claimed responsibility.
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2:15 p.m.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced Saturday’s deadly blasts in the Turkish city of Istanbul — and is calling on Turkey to publicly denounce any attacks against Israel.
Netanyahu said at his Cabinet meeting Sunday that “Israel condemns any terror in Turkey, and Israel expects Turkey to condemn any act of terror in Israel. The battle against terror must be mutual.”
Twin blasts in Istanbul on Saturday night killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium.
Turkey and Israel sent new ambassadors to each other’s countries this month as part of a reconciliation deal to end six years of animosity. Relations imploded in 2010 after a confrontation between Israeli commandos and a Turkish flotilla trying to reach Gaza left 10 Turkish activists dead.
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1:50 p.m.
Turkey’s interior minister has given a furious address at a funeral for police officers killed in Saturday night’s bombing attack in Istanbul, slamming Kurdish rebels and their allies in the West.
Minister Suleyman Soylu on Sunday referred to members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as “animals” after suggesting they were behind the attack that killed 38 people, mostly police, and wounded 155others. No group has claimed responsibility for the car-and-suicide bombing.
He asked: “Have you accomplished anything beyond being the servants, pawns and hit men of certain dark forces, of your dark Western partners?”
The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, which has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens. Turkish officials frequently accuse the West of directly and indirectly supporting the Kurdish insurgency and of interfering in Ankara’s fight against terrorism.
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12:45 p.m.
Funeral services have already begun at Istanbul’s police headquarters for some of the officers slain in twin bombing attacks near the city’s soccer stadium.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other top officials were in attendance as police carried the coffins of their comrades draped in the Turkish flag.
The death toll from the twin blasts Saturday night near Besiktas stadium rose Sunday morning to 38, including 30 police officers, seven civilians and one more person whose identity had yet to be determined. Another 155 people were wounded.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the blasts.
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12 noon
The Turkish Football Federation has condemned the attack near a stadium in Istanbul and announced that one minute of silence will precede all matches in Turkey’s professional and amateur soccer leagues on Sunday and Monday.
Flags at all stadiums will be placed at half-staff and there will be no music played during matches.
The flags around the soccer stadium in Besiktas, where the attack took place Saturday night, were already flying low.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the death toll from the twin blasts had risen to 38, including 30 police officers, seven civilians and one more person whose identity had yet to be determined.
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11:40 a.m.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the death toll from twin blasts near an Istanbul stadium had risen to 38.
He said the figure included 30 police officers, seven civilians and one more person whose identity had yet to be determined.
The minister also put the number of wounded at 155 and said a total of 13 suspects had been detained in connection with the attack Saturday night.
Soylu says 136 people are still hospitalized from the attack, 14 of them in intensive care and five undergoing surgery.
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11:25 a.m.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, has condemned the attack in Istanbul near a soccer stadium that left 29 dead and 166 wounded.
The party’s central executive committee released a statement on Sunday “strongly condemning” the attacks and saying it “felt great sadness and shared in the sorrow.”
The statement added: “In both domestic and foreign policy, Turkey must be a model and more importantly a political actor of peace, democracy and human rights. It is essential that the politics, language, tone and practices that causes tension, polarization, enmity and clashes immediately cease.”
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the Saturday night attack by a car bomber and a suicide bomber. This year Istanbul has witnessed a spate of attacks attributed by authorities to the Islamic State group or claimed by Kurdish militants. A state of emergency is in force following a failed July 15 coup attempt.
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11 a.m.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency says 19 of the 166 people wounded in twin blasts near a soccer stadium in Istanbul are in intensive care.
Quoting sources Sunday in the office of the Istanbul governor, it says 155 others are also still receiving medical treatment after the blasts Saturday night.
Attacks Saturday night by a car bomber and a suicide bomber near Istanbul’s Besiktas soccer stadium were the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
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10:50 a.m.
Turkey has declared a national day of mourning after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 29 people and wounded 166 others near a soccer stadium.
The Sunday statement from Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s office also ordered flags to fly at half-staff across the country and at Turkey’s foreign missions.
Twin attacks Saturday night by a car bomber and a suicide bomber near Istanbul’s Besiktas soccer stadium were the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the private news channel CNN Turk that “arrows point to the PKK.” He was referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency. Authorities, he said, had determined that about 300-400 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.
