15.4 C
Auckland
Sunday, October 13, 2024

Popular Now

Erdogan condemns ‘treacherous’ deadly attack in Istanbul

At least six have been killed and over 50 injured in an explosion in the heart of Türkiye’s largest city, the president said.

An explosion in Istanbul on Sunday was likely a terrorist attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced. The blast on the iconic Istiklal Avenue, a busy pedestrian street in the historic center of the city, killed six people and left at least 53 injured, he told a media conference.

“It would be wrong to say this is undoubtedly a terrorist attack but the initial developments and initial intelligence from my governor is that it smells like terrorism,” the president said.

Erdogan condemned the “treacherous attack” and vowed to bring those behind the blast to justice, adding that early information indicated that “a woman” played a role in the explosion.

The Turkish leader said authorities were currently working to find the culprits behind the deadly attack.

“Efforts to defeat Turkey and the Turkish people through terrorism will fail today just as they did yesterday and as they will fail again tomorrow,” Erdogan said.

Turkish authorities have urged the media and public to rely only on official information about the incident, with the Turkish Broadcasting Authority (RTÜK) cautioning against spreading “false information unknowingly.” Additionally, authorities have banned news channels and social networking services from broadcasting images of the deadly explosion.

Shortly after the blast, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a terrorism probe into the incident. Prosecutors have also launched an investigation into “provocative posts” on social media related to the explosion.

Later in the day, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said the number of injured in the explosion had climbed to 81 people, two of whom were in critical condition.

Promoted Content

Source:RT News

No login required to comment. Name, email and web site fields are optional. Please keep comments respectful, civil and constructive. Moderation times can vary from a few minutes to a few hours. Comments may also be scanned periodically by Artificial Intelligence to eliminate trolls and spam.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest

Trending

Sport

Daily Life

Opinion

Wellington
light rain
10 ° C
10.8 °
8.8 °
88 %
6.7kmh
75 %
Sun
10 °
Mon
11 °
Tue
12 °
Wed
10 °
Thu
13 °