The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has disassociated itself on Monday from the bomb attack perpetrated on Sunday in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which left at least six dead and dozens wounded, following accusations made by the Turkish government against the group, considered by Ankara as a terrorist organization.
«First of all, we offer our condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We have nothing to do with this incident and it is well known to the public that we do not directly target civilians nor do we condone actions directed against civilians,» the People’s Defense Center Headquarters Command (HSM) said in a statement.
Thus, it has defended that the PKK «is a movement that maintains an honest and legitimate struggle for freedom» and stressed that the group «acts from a perspective that seeks to create a common, democratic, free and egalitarian future in the society of Turkey.» «From this starting point, that we attack the civilian population in any way is totally out of the question,» he argued.
The PKK has further pointed to the «bitter reality» that «the regime» in Turkey «is having difficulties in the face of this legitimate struggle,» especially «after unveiling the use of chemical weapons and images showing that they set fire to the corpses of their own soldiers.» For this reason, he denounced «an attempt to develop a dark plan to distort the situation», as reported by the Kurdish news portal ANF.
«The fact that the Turkish authorities are targeting Kobani in connection with the incident reveals part of their plan,» said the PKK, which stressed that «whether the perpetrator is Kurdish or Syrian does not change the consequences.» «It is important for democratic circles and Turkish public opinion to see this dark period and fight to expose the incident,» it has concluded.
The statement was issued hours after Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu confirmed the arrest of the woman suspected of planting the bomb on Istanbul’s busy Istiklal Avenue and pointed to the PKK as responsible. He also said that «the order for the deadly terrorist attack came from Ain al Arab in northern Syria, where the People’s Protection Units (YPG) are based,» referring to a prominent Kurdish-Syrian militia with ties to the PKK.
