Turkey calls the blast in Istanbul an attack. At least 6 are dead
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In Turkey, officials are calling an explosion Sunday in Istanbul that killed at least six people and wounded at least 80 more a terrorist attack.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The blast happened on the city's most popular commercial street where crowds of people shop and watch street performers.
FADEL: NPR's Peter Kenyon is following this story and joins us from Istanbul. Hi, Peter.
PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So, Peter, what's the latest on this attack?
KENYON: Well, there is one person in custody who's suspected of having had a direct role in the bombing. Turkey's interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, told reporters that the person who police believe left the bomb on the crowded street and walked away had been taken into custody. Police also say some 46 others are being held for questioning. The bomber was identified as a woman, Ahlam Albashir, who police say is a Syrian national. But Interior Minister Soylu also had some pretty harsh words for countries who he says harbor terrorists or allow them to raise money. Here's a bit of what he said.
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SULEYMAN SOYLU: (Speaking Turkish).
KENYON: What he's saying here, he's basically calling out, quote, "the insincerity of our so-called allies" - those are his words - who he says either hide terrorists in their own country or send them money from their own treasuries. He named the United States, saying a condolence message from Washington was like, quote, "a killer being first to show up at a crime scene." Turkey has also accused Sweden of supporting terror groups. Soylu also named the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and its Syrian affiliate, the PYD, as being behind the attack. The PKK in a statement denied any involvement in the explosion, saying it doesn't target civilians. Turkey's been battling Kurdish militants for decades in Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
FADEL: Now, you've been speaking to people who were there when the explosion happened. What did they tell you?
KENYON: That's right. Well, a number of the people didn't want to talk right away. They were just too upset. They had to get home, they said. But I did meet 60-year-old shop owner Hasan Ozsut. Now, he runs a small dairy farm. He sells his products from two small shops. And he said he's pretty sure the blast occurred very close to one of his shops. He's expecting to find blown-out windows and other damage, but he hasn't been able to get there yet because of the crush of ambulances, police and firefighters descending on the scene. He's not sure when he'll be able to assess the damage. He did tell me, though, that now he'd gotten over the initial shock, he'd started to reflect on what this will mean going forward. And he says it's not good. Here's some of what he told me.
HASAN OZSUT: This is just happening to Turkey's, you know, future, which is coming very near to at the end of the year. So the people are going to be doing, you know, Christmas shopping. People are going to come over here, you know, do some Christmas tourism. This is actually a bomb to Turkish economy.
KENYON: And he also said he wishes Turkey's government would stop being quite so proud of its military prowess selling drones and do a bit more to focus on its own citizens and their needs.
FADEL: Where do things go from here?
KENYON: People think this is another blow to Turkey's efforts to find its economic footing. There's basically a sense of harder times ahead with the government now consumed with security matters.
FADEL: NPR's Peter Kenyon in Istanbul, thank you so much.
KENYON: Thanks, Leila.
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