London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Ankara claims PKK’s Syrian offshoot is behind bloody Istanbul attack

Ankara claims PKK’s Syrian offshoot is behind bloody Istanbul attack

In an overnight raid, Istanbul police detained a 23-year-old Syrian woman, Ahlam Al-Bashir, as the prime suspect for having planted the bomb that killed six people and wounded 81 people in the city on Sunday.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, were behind Sunday’s blast in Istiklal Avenue, targeting civilians.

In a statement published by the Fırat news agency, the PKK denied any involvement in the attack, but Turkish intelligence sources insist on the high probability of the group’s role in it.

Al-Bashir confessed she was trained by Kurdish militants in Syria and entered Turkiye illegally through Syria’s northwestern Afrin region, currently controlled by Turkish troops.

She was caught in the CCTV footage, wearing a hijab and camouflage, when leaving the area with a remotely controlled bomb-loaded bag.

Among the victims of the attack were a 3-year-old girl and her father, an employee at the Ministry of Family and Social Services’ branch in the southern province of Adana. They were vacationing in Istanbul.

The White House released a press statement, in which it said that the US “strongly condemns the act of violence” and reiterated that it “(stands) shoulder-to-shoulder with its NATO ally Turkiye in countering terrorism.”

Soylu, however, openly criticized the US for giving support to Kurdish militants in Syria, saying “the insincerity of our allies who officially send money is obvious” and comparing the condolences to the arrival of the murderer at the crime scene.

Security analysts insist that there was a PKK connection to the attack, based on patterns observed in previous attacks.

“This time, the PKK appears to be targeting civilians in a crowded spot in a metropolis in order to generate a wider impact on public opinion and attract more attention ahead of the elections set for next year,” Erol Bural, a retired colonel and head of the Ankara-based Research Center for Combating Terrorism and Radicalization, told Arab News.

“The ongoing anti-terror operations of Turkiye seriously weakened the PKK’s military clout within the country and in its region, which also undermined the organizational capabilities of the group as well as its popular support. The only way to regain it was through terrorism, a bomb attack, to punish Turkiye,” he said.

According to Bural, the PKK uses this pattern against civilians to instill fear and as a reminder that it still poses a threat and can repeat such acts.

Turkiye considers the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, and PYD as linked to the PKK, an armed group listed as a terror organization by the US, EU and Turkey.

Turkiye carried out three operations in northern Syria against the YPG, while another operation was expected this year but never realized.

The PKK has fought an almost four-decades-long armed insurgency against the Turkish state, claiming the lives of over 40,000 people. The group has several members exiled in Sweden.

As part of the newly established consensus between Turkiye and Sweden to give the Scandinavian country’s NATO accession bid a green light, Sweden’s foreign minister in the new government recently said Stockholm needed to “distance” itself from the YPG and PYD, who control much of northern Syria.

“There is too close a link between these organizations and the PKK,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom recently told broadcaster Sveriges Radio.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently visited Ankara to discuss the details of its entry into NATO.

Bural believes that the latest Istanbul attack may also carry a threatening message toward European countries, implying that similar acts may happen in their countries as well if they ever restrict the PKK’s presence and its propaganda activities.

“From now on, the PKK may conduct its terror acts in big cities using its networks and proxies inside Turkiye or by deploying foreign fighters from abroad.

“In both cases, Turkiye needs to tighten its border security and take additional precautions against potential cells within the country.

“Each year, about 200 terror acts of various groups are prevented in Turkiye, but one of them escapes from the security radar and claims so many innocent lives,” Bural said.

While the PKK is seen as a top suspect in the blast, experts also draw attention to the Iranian factor in such acts of terrorism in Turkey, considering the recent disagreements between the two countries.

On July 22, Kataib Seyid el-Suheda, an Iranian-backed militia group in Iraq, shared a photo from Taksim square in Istanbul, with the slogan “Wherever we need to be, we will be there.”

The same account posted another video on July 24.

“Our eyes are on Istanbul. People loyal to Abu Alaa El-Vali,” the message in it said, referring to the leader of the Iranian-backed militia group, “are at the heart of Turkiye, just (as) they were yesterday.”

Just hours before the Istanbul attack, a controversial Iranian article also blamed Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan for playing a role in the terror attack on a Shiite religious shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz on Oct. 22, which killed 15 people, and for promoting Azerbaijani separatism.

Daesh claimed responsibility for that attack.

Pro-Iran Shiite militia groups have been previously accused of being behind rocket attacks against a Turkish base north of Iraq’s Mosul following Turkish airstrikes that targeted the PKK there.

Turkiye launched several cross-border military operations into Syria and northern Iraq against the PKK’s hideouts following the increase in bloody terror attacks between 2015 and 2017, which killed hundreds of civilians and security personnel.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×