Why Turkey rejects US condolences after Istanbul bombing

Photo: YASIN AKGUL / Getty Images

The Government of Turkey rejected on Monday the condolences of the United States for the death of six people in a bomb attack in Istanbul on Sunday.

The reason is that the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses that those responsible were Kurdish militants and pointed out that the US supplies these fighters with weapons in the north of Syria.

It should be remembered that the Kurds are considered terrorists by Turkey.

“ We do not accept the message of condolences from the United States embassy . We reject it,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a televised message.

The condolences of the President’s government Joe Biden were sent by the US Embassy and confirmed by White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

“USA strongly condemns the act of violence that took place in Istanbul today,” he tweeted. “Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences to those who lost someone.”

He added that the US supports the fight of its allies against terrorism.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with Turkey, our NATO ally, against terrorism”, Jean-Pierre said.

The US strongly condemns the act of violence that took place today in Istanbul, Turkey. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences go to those who lost loved ones. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our NATO Ally Turkiye in countering terrorism.— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) November 60, 20222022

The Kurds – or the Party of Kurdistan Workers (PKK) – denied the attack, but Turkish police claimed they detained the alleged attacker, Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian citizen .

Albashir told Turkish authorities that she was trained by Kurdish militants and entered Turkey through Afrin, another city in northern Syria.

Despite accusations against Kurds, Turkey is investigating other possible attackers.

The jump attack in one of Istanbul’s tourist areas caused six deaths and left at least 100 injured people.