Seven people detained linked with Istanbul bombing – Turkish minister

All Turkish dailies Thursday continued to cover the terrorist attack that hit Istanbul’s historical Sultanahmet district, killing 10 people and injuring 15 others, many of them German tourists.

Russia’s consulate confirmed that three citizens had been detained while a source in one of the country’s security agencies told the TASS news agency that there was evidence proving they “had links or participated in foreign terror groups”.

The bomber, identified as Nabil Fadli, blew himself up in Sultanahmet Square – home to Turkey’s most visited historic sites including the Ottoman-era Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia church.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a news conference Tuesday that the bomber was a Syrian national born in 1988.

Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag said that authorities were working to identify people connected to the attacker.

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance and the US-led coalition against ISIS, has repeatedly said it wants to flush ISIS from a zone in northern Syria just across its border.

Speaking a day after the attack, which Ankara has blamed on Islamic State, the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said four more people had been detained, bringing the number of suspects to five.

Nine other Germans were injured by the blast, but German and Turkish officials said they didn’t believe the bomber targeted them due to their nationality. “Then we started to run away, and the bomb instantly exploded”, the group’s tour guide Sibel Satiroglu told investigators, the Hurriyet newspaper said.

In the wake of the bombing, Turkish security forces pressed ahead with nationwide operations targeting suspected Islamic State extremists. He said Turkey had detained as many as 220 IS suspects in the week prior to the attack. The Islamic State group, however, hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attack.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala confirmed Fadli was registered and fingerprinted as a Syrian refugee, but stated “he was not on the wanted individuals list, and neither is he on the target individuals list sent to us by other countries”.

Meanwhile, de Maiziere stressed that there is “no indication” the bombing specifically targeted Germans, adding, “I see no reason to refrain from trips to Turkey”.

The Russians were detained in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, a popular destination for tourists.

Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said the team will work in cooperation with Turkey and will try to support the ongoing investigation plus identification of victims, Anadolu Agency reports.

Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.