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Six Turkish citizens, two members each of three families, were
killed in the attack on Nov. 13, 2022. The explosion also
wounded about 100 people in the busy street packed with shoppers
and tourists.
DHA said the court imposed a total of seven life sentences on
Albashir, who was previously identified by police as the person
who planted the bomb. The verdicts on the other 35 defendants in
the case were not immediately clear.
Turkey blamed Kurdish militants for the explosion, saying the
order for the attack on Istiklal Avenue was given in Kobani in
northern Syria, where Turkish forces have conducted operations
against a Syrian Kurdish militia in recent years.
That militia and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militant group, which has fought a decades-old insurgency
against the Turkish state, denied involvement in the attack. No
group claimed responsibility.
Istanbul has been attacked in the past by Kurdish, Islamist and
leftist militants. A wave of bombings and other attacks began
nationwide when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK broke
down in mid-2015.
(Reporting by Daren Butler;Editing by Ezgi Erkoyun, William
Maclean)
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