Turkey declared a day of national mourning on Sunday after twin bombings targeting police struck the heart of Istanbul near the home stadium of football giants Besiktas, killing 38 people.
A car bomb detonated outside the Vodafone Arena football stadium on the shores of the Bosphorus after the Super League match between Besiktas and Bursaspor while less than a minute later a suicide attacker struck a nearby park.
The authorities did not say who was behind the blasts, the latest in a year that has seen Istanbul and other cities rocked by a string of attacks blamed on Islamic State terrorist and Kurdish militants.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered flags to fly at half mast while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan postponed a planned trip to Kazakhstan, the state news agency Anadolu reported.
27 of those killed were police, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that 10 suspects had been detained. Soylu said the first blast was caused by a car bomb that struck outside Besiktas's football stadium. It was followed 45 seconds later by another attack at the nearby Macka Park, carried out by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in the midst of police officers.
UPDATE: Death toll in twin #IstanbulBlast rises to 38 #Besiktas https://t.co/0PhTkPuyhv pic.twitter.com/8a48HO58Q1
— RT (@RT_com) December 11, 2016
The Istanbul governor's office said 155 people were wounded, 19 of them were in intensive care unit, the private NTV broadcaster reported.
A forensic team on Sunday inspected the stadium and the park to collect evidence, an AFP journalist said. Municipality trucks meanwhile cleaned up the area.
"An act of terror targeted our security forces and citizens at Besiktas tonight," Erdogan said in a statement after the attacks. Erdogan said the blasts were timed to cause maximum loss of life. "We have witnessed once more here in Istanbul the ugly face of terror which tramples down any form of value and morals," he said.
'Kurdish militants may be behind the bombing'
Turkey said that Kurdish militants may be responsible for the two bombs in what looked to be a coordinated attack on police outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul after a match between two top teams.
There was no claim of responsibility, but Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said early indications pointed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency, mainly in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast.
"The arrows point at the PKK," Kurtulmus told CNN Turk in an interview. "There will be an announcement once the investigations are over. We cannot say anything definite for now."
He said Turkey's allies should show solidarity with it in the fight against terrorism, a reference to the long-standing disagreement with fellow NATO member Washington over Syria policy. The United States backs the Syrian Kurdish YPG in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey says the militia is an extension of the PKK and a terrorist group.
Last night's #Istanbulblast was hardly the first attack to target Turkey in recent times.
— dwnews (@dwnews) December 11, 2016
More: https://t.co/V8UbywGhX4 pic.twitter.com/BAdCDE8VBv
155 wounded, 14 in intensive care
A total of 155 people were being treated in hospital and 14 of them were in intensive care after bombings outside an Istanbul soccer stadium, Turkey's health minister said. Recep Akdag made the comment at a joint news conference with Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
Trauerfeier im Polizeipräsidium in Istanbul mit Präsident #Erdogan und PM #Yildirim #istanbulblast #türkei pic.twitter.com/Lo6lJCCjgu
— Y.OZ (@Ozturk_Yalcin) December 11, 2016
