A bomb attack killed 6 people and injured 81 others in Istanbul’s busiest street, Istiklal Avenue, on Sunday. Turkish officials were quick to blame the Kurdish freedom movement for the deadly attack, claiming that the attacker had come from northern Syria. Turkish police announced on Monday that 46 people were taken into custody in connection with the attack. According to a statement by the Istanbul Police, Ahlam Al-Bashir, who allegedly left the bomb at the scene and fled afterwards, was also detained.

The Headquarters Command of the People’s Defense Center (HSM) denied involvement in the incident, making it clear that they were against attacks directed at civilians.

The General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazlum Abdi also announced earlier today that, “Our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul attack and deny the allegations that blame our forces.”

The People’s Defense Units (YPG) also refuted the Turkish state’s allegations, saying, “Following the deadly explosion which claimed civilian lives, the AKP-MHP government claimed that the attack was carried out by our forces, starting an imaginary scenario building far from reality.”

The YPG statement said, “We strongly reject these groundless allegations. We have no connection to the terrorist Ehlam El-Beşîr who carried out the attack. The whole world knows that the principle of our forces is based on the protection of human rights and counter-terrorism. We condemn any form of attack directed at civilians. Our forces struggle within the context of democracy, human and women’s rights, and the fight against terror and dictatorship.”

AFRIN HAS BEEN OCCUPIED SINCE 2018

The statement pointed out that the perpetrator, Ahlam Al-Bashir, is claimed to have heeded from the Afrin city, which has been occupied since 2018, and remained completely under the influence of Turkish intelligence and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Al-Qaeda) since.

Noting that the city was also used to launch attacks on Turkish territory, the YPG stated, “The crisis experienced by the Erdoğan government and the approaching elections of the next year prove the incident to be a play created by the Erdoğan and AKP government. Before his leave for Indonesia to attend the G20 Summit, Erdoğan seeks to convince the world to launch an attack on Rojava and North-East Syria, and to find an excuse in order to obtain international approval.”

The YPG continued, “The women in our forces continue to achieve heroic achievements in the fight against ISIS terrorism and clearly influence the women’s revolution in Iran, Afghanistan and the world under the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” [Woman, Life, Freedom]. This constitutes a clear concern for the Erdoğan government and the AKP, which are now trying to maintain their personal interests through slanders, lies and schemes at the expense of people’s freedom and stability in the Middle East.”

“But we assure our people and the world that we are committed to the values ​​of our people and our revolution, and we will always fight against dictatorships and terrorism.”