Five individuals considered suspects in last Sunday’s attack on Istiklal Avenue in Turkey’s capital, Istanbul, which left six dead and 81 wounded, were arrested early this morning during a police operation.
They are three people with Moldovan citizenship and a man of Arab origin, and one of them is considered to be an accomplice of another individual wanted by Interpol for terrorism. There is no information on the fifth detainee.
According to NOVA channel, the man wanted by Interpol for terrorism and his right-hand man intended to carry out new attacks, both in Turkey and in an EU country.
In the coming hours, the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office confirms to the channel, the first proceedings under the country’s anti-terrorist legislation will be instituted. The Prosecutor’s Office has not provided any further information in this regard for reasons of national security.
Teams from the Istanbul Police Department arrested early Monday morning the woman suspected of having perpetrated the terrorist attack, as well as 21 other people, of whom 17 have been requested to be prosecuted.
Istanbul has been hit by several explosions in the past, including a suicide bombing in Istiklal in 2016 by a suspected member of the Islamic State jihadist group that claimed the lives of five people.
In the same year, the PKK, considered by Turkey to be a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 38 people outside a soccer stadium in the Besiktas area of central Istanbul.
