Person suspected of planting bomb in Istanbul arrested

(Patria)  Turkish police have arrested a person suspected of planting the bomb that exploded on Sunday in a pedestrian zone in central Istanbul, killing at least six and wounding dozens.

The bomb exploded on Sunday around 4:20 p.m. local time on Istiklal Avenue, a street with numerous cafes, restaurants, cinemas and shops.

According to currently available data, at least six people died in the explosion, and 81 were injured, two of them seriously.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "cowardly attack" on Sunday. "Initial information points to the conclusion that it is terrorism," Erdogan said.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Monday morning, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, according to a report by state television TRT, that police had arrested the person who planted the bomb.

The suspect is a person linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and Minister Soylu threatened retaliation, TRT reported.

In the EU and the US, the PKK is designated a terrorist organization, notes the dpa news agency.

Istiklal Avenue was also the target of a terrorist attack in 2016, when a suicide bomber killed four people and wounded 39. The Turkish government then announced that the attacker was linked to the Islamic State group, but it did not claim responsibility, dpa points out.