Turkey detains 3 Russians suspected of Islamic State ties after Istanbul bomb

“We’re not surprised this happened here, this has always been a possible target”, he said.

Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin.

Turkey’s Haberturk newspaper published what it said was a CCTV image of the bomber, identified in some local media reports as Saudi-born Nabil Fadli, at an immigration office in Istanbul on January 5.

Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister Nman Kurtulmus has said the bomber believed responsible for the attack was not on Turkey’s list of suspected militants and may have entered the country recently.

Turkey has suffered from a series of deadly attacks.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber who carried out the attack in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district on Tuesday was a member of ISIL, and that the government would step up its operation against the armed group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world.

“Based on what we know from the investigation so far, there are no indications that the attack was explicitly targeting Germans so there can not be a link with our contribution to the fight against worldwide terrorism”, he said. The latter killed more than 100 people.

Anadolu Agency informs that sixteen suspects, among whom a Turk and fifteen Syrians, were detained in Ankara province on Tuesday for allegedly preparing a high-profile attack.

Violence has also escalated in the mainly Kurdish southeast since a two-year ceasefire collapsed in July between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) armed group, which has been fighting for three decades for Kurdish autonomy.

Police in the Mediterranean city of Antalya also seized documents and CDs during a search of the premises where the suspects were staying, the agency said. It was not immediately clear when the detentions occurred.