Alwaght- A suicidal terrorist attack in Istanbul killed five people, including the bomber on Saturday, in the sixth suicide bombing in Turkey in the past year.
Several foreigners were among 36 people wounded, according to the health ministry.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the explosion occurred outside a local government office on Istiklal Street, which is also home to cafes, restaurants and foreign consulates.
Police swiftly sealed off the area as ambulances and a forensic team rushed to the scene after the bombing about 11 a.m. normally packed cafes were either closed or virtually empty, with business owners making frantic calls to loved ones to assure them of their safety. Rattled tourists wondered where to go.
Turkey was already on edge following two recent suicide car bomb attacks in the capital, Ankara, which were claimed by a Kurdish militant group that is an off-shoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. On March 13 terrorists targeted bus stops on Ankara’s busiest street, killing 37 people including two of the bombers.
Germany closed its embassy in Ankara and a consulate and German school in Istanbul last week because of a warning over an imminent attack.
The Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a Kurdish-rooted opposition party, condemned the bombing.
“Just as in the Ankara attack, this is a terrorist act that directly targets civilians,” a spokesperson said. “Whoever carried out this attack, it is unacceptable and inexcusable.”
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened a security meeting in Istanbul following the attack. His deputy, Numan Kurtulmus said in televised remarks “it is clear that some people are giving logistic support (to terrorists), that some are giving political support and that they are even providing financial support as well as arms.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has condemned as “inhumane” a bomb attack, which rocked a busy central street in Turkey's port city of Istanbul.
Zarif, who was speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, noted that the terrorist attack in Turkey's biggest city showed “the ugly face of terrorism.”
Iran's top diplomat also offered his condolences to Turkey’s government and nation as well as the bereaved families of victims of the blast.
During the joint press conference, the Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers also underlined the need for the two countries to join hands in fighting terrorism across the region.
Iran and Turkey have a common viewpoint on the necessity of safeguarding the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria, Zarif said.
