Remains of German victims of Istanbul attack flown home

The Dogan news agency reported on Saturday that a German military plane had departed Ataturk Airport in the Turkish metropolis, with each of the bodies arriving at the airport in separate funeral vehicles. It said separate proceedings against an 18th suspect – a minor – were still ongoing.

Turkish authorities have identified the Istanbul suicide bomber as a 28-year-old Syrian who entered Turkey on January 5 posing as a migrant fleeing the country’s civil war.

Germany and Turkey are boosting cooperation in fighting terrorism, according to former German interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, who visited Turkey on Wednesday, a day after a suicide bomb attack in Istanbul killed 10 German tourists.

The self-styled Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the central Sultanahmet Square.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Tuesday the attack was carried out by a member of ISIL.

The government in Ankara has often been criticized by its Western allies for not doing enough to combat “IS” jihadists who have seized large swathes of territory across the border in Syria and Iraq. All those attacks targeted pro-Kurdish groups, who are vehemently opposed to IS.

Merkel said the meeting was planned long before the Istanbul attack, and the topics will not be restricted to security issues, and include talks about cooperation in various other fields, including economy and foreign policy.