Panic seized the heart of Istanbul (Turkey) this Sunday. A loud explosion sounded in the afternoon on the busy shopping street of Istiqlal in the heart of Istanbul, Turkish media reported.
What happened ?
The explosion occurred around 4:20 p.m. (1:20 p.m. GMT), when the crowd was particularly dense in this popular walking spot on Sundays for Istanbulites and tourists. According to videos broadcast by social networks, the explosion emits a powerful detonation, accompanied by flames, and immediately triggers a movement of panic. A large black crater is also visible in these images, along with several bodies on the ground nearby. Families with children in their arms tried to run away from the neighborhood.
“I was 50-55 m away, suddenly there was a sound of an explosion. I saw three or four people on the ground,” a witness, Cemal Denizci, 57, told AFP. “People were running in panic. The noise was huge. There was black smoke. The sound was so loud, almost deafening.
What is the origin of the explosion?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced, live on tv, “a vile attack”. “We consider this to be a terrorist attack due to the explosion of a bomb set off by an assailant who would be a woman, according to the first information,” said Fuat Oktay, the vice president at the end of ‘afternoon.
While the latter had evoked a “suicide bomber” at first, the Minister of Justice, Bekir Bozdag, then evoked a “bag” placed on a bench. “A woman sat on a bench for 40 to 45 minutes and after a while there was an explosion. All data on this woman is currently under review,” he continued. “Either this bag contained a timer or someone activated it remotely,” he added. The attack had not been claimed in the early evening.
“The perpetrators of this vile attack will be unmasked. Let our people be sure that the perpetrators will be punished. Attempts to trap Turkey and the Turkish nation in terror will not be able to achieve their goal today or tomorrow, any more than they did yesterday,” promised Erdogan, who had already faced a campaign of terror in across the country in 2015-2016. Claimed in part by the Islamic State group, it had killed nearly 500 people and injured more than 2,000. “We will find those who are behind this attack, whoever it is, even if it goes to the other side of the world” promised Fuat Oktay.
How many victims?
The attack killed six people and injured 81, including two seriously, according to a latest report, given this Sunday evening by Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay.
What reactions?
For fear of a second explosion, the area was completely evacuated. An imposing deployment of security forces also blocks all access. The police cordoned off access to Istiklal Street and adjacent streets, and helicopters flew over the city center where numerous sirens sounded. In the neighboring district of Galata, many shops have lowered their curtains.
Less than an hour after the events, the Turkish Audiovisual High Council banned the audiovisual media from broadcasting images of the scene to “prevent fear-mongering”. In addition, access to social networks was restricted in Turkey after the attack, according to online restrictions monitor Netblocks.
The French Embassy calls on its nationals to avoid the sector, and any exit from their homes. “As far as possible, all use of public transport should be avoided. A crisis cell was opened by the consulate.
From France, which this Sunday commemorates the 130 dead from the attacks of November 13, 2015, President Emmanuel Macron assured: “To the Turks: we share your pain. We stand with you in the fight against terrorism.”
In Greece, with which Ankara has strained relations, the Foreign Ministry has “unequivocally condemned terrorism and expresses its sincere condolences to the Turkish government and people”.
“All our thoughts to the people of Turkey in these difficult times”, reacted the President of the European Council Charles Michel. Saudi Arabia expressed “the Kingdom’s condemnation in the strongest terms of the terrorist explosion”.