Turkish Prime Minister accuses Europe

ISTANBUL –Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan accuses Europe of supporting terrorists, and thus ascribes to them responsibility for the bomb attack in Istanbul yesterday. In the attack 32 people were wounded and the suicide bomber himself was killed.

Erdoğan mentioned the bomb attack in a speech he gave to an international congress in Istanbul. He blamed European countries for failing to get rid of organisations that support terrorism while disguising themselves as media or charity organisations. He is referring for example to Roj TV, a Kurdish channel that broadcasts from Denmark and is considered a mouthpiece of Kurdish separatist movement PKK.

It’s not clear yet whether the PKK is behind the bombing or not. The organisation yesterday denied involvement, but that doesn’t mean anything: lately several splinter groups have been active, over which the PKK leadership does not always have total contro. The leftist terrorist movement DHKP-C is also still on the list of suspects, as is the Turkish branch of Al Qaida. So far nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.