At his press conference on Sunday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the afternoon's bloody explosion in Istanbul as a despicable attack, which according to information left six dead and 53 wounded.
In his speech, Erdogan emphasized that the perpetrators of the attack will be found and punished in a dignified manner. The Turkish head of state emphasized that perhaps it would not be right to clearly call what happened a terrorist act, but - as he put it - they smell "terror". According to the first investigations, a woman played a role in the explosion, he indicated. Turkey and the Turkish people cannot be enslaved by terrorism, he said, as it has been and will not be.
The detonation took place around 2:20 p.m. CET in Istanbul's popular pedestrian street, Istiklal Street. After what happened, a large number of police, ambulance and firefighting units arrived at the scene. The injured were taken to hospital. The security agencies closed the pedestrian street to traffic. A helicopter was circling in the air.
Turkish news television NTV understands that Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag are also on their way to Istanbul. In connection with the case, the authorities ordered a temporary news blackout, and the Istanbul Prosecutor General's Office launched an investigation.
Turkey was the scene of several bloody terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2017. The overwhelming majority of the attacks were carried out by the Islamic State jihadist terrorist organization or the Kurdistan Workers' Party terrorist organization, which has been waging an armed uprising in southeastern Turkey since 1984. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the inferno attacks.
Based on the currently available information, there are no Hungarian victims or injured in the Istanbul bombing, foreign affairs spokesman Máté Paczolay informed MTI on Sunday. He said: "our embassy in Ankara and our consulate general in Istanbul are in constant contact with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as with the national and local police bodies, and our competent consuls are also ready 24 hours a day to receive inquiries from Hungarians in need of help". He added that so far three Hungarian citizens have visited the consular service, they are staying in the city as tourists and are staying in a hotel located only 40 meters from the site of the explosion.
He said, "we are in constant contact with them, they are all fine, they have not been hurt and according to their original plans, they will leave Turkey in the next few days" . According to the information, the Hungarian embassies will continue to closely monitor the events, and the consular service is ready to provide all possible assistance if necessary. Hungarians staying in Istanbul can ask for help 24 hours a day at the following toll-free number: 003680368036.
Source: MTI
(Header image: Agerpress/EPA)
