The 2008 Istanbul bombings occurred on July 27, 2008 when two explosions hit a busy shopping street in the Güngören district of Istanbul, killing seventeen people, five of them children,[1] and injuring 154.[2] The attacks occurred at 9:45 p.m. local time, 18:45 UTC,[3] on a pedestrian street closed to traffic.[4] The bombings were the deadliest civilian attacks in Turkey since the 2003 Istanbul bombings, five years earlier.[5]
Details
The first of the two bombs was a sonic bomb which was placed in a telephone cabin and second bomb was placed in a waste container 50 meters away, near a crowded street.[1] The first bomb caused crowds to gather for help and curiosity, and around 10 minutes later, the second and more powerful bomb exploded, causing many of the casualties.[6] The police believe that the bombs were activated remotely.[2] Political analyst Damla Aras said that, "there is a possibility they might be A4, C-4 explosives, which were brought from northern Iraq by the PKK and have been used several times in Turkey."[7]
Early on, news sources thought the first explosion was caused by a gas leak.[7]
The blasts were the deadliest to hit Istanbul since a series of bombings in November 2003 that killed over 60 people.[8]
Investigation
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing as of yet, although Kurdish separatist militants are suspected.[6] The Istanbul Police indicate that the incident bears the hallmarks of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), possibly in revenge for a series of major operations by the Turkish military on its bases days prior to the incident.[2] However a senior member of the PKK, Zubeyir Aydar, denied the implication: "The Kurdish liberation movement is not involved in this attack."[1]
Based on a tip from residents, three teenagers were taken into custody in connection to the bombings.[9]
Nine people were indicted in December 2008 over the bombings.[10]
