skip to main content

Istanbul bomb suspects arrested

Turkey - Istanbul bomb suspects held
Turkey - Istanbul bomb suspects held

Turkey's interior minister says those responsible for a double bombing in Istanbul last week which killed 17 people have been caught.

Interior Minister Besir Atalay blamed Kurdish separatists for the attack.

The bomb blasts, 50m and 10 minutes apart, were the worst such attacks Turkey since 2003, when al Qaeda carried out a series of bombings in Istanbul.

Around 150 people were also injured in last Sunday's blasts.

'Our judgement is that this merciless attack was the work of the bloody separatist group,' Mr Atalay told a televised news conference.

Government officials had already indicated they suspected that the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party was responsible for the attack.

The PKK has denied involvement.