Interior Minister Soylu accused some of Turkey’s allies of trying to destabilize the country
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused some of the country’s allies of trying to destabilize the country and hiding information about the terrorist attack on Istiklal Street in Istanbul last year.
An explosion occurred on Istiklal pedestrian street in the center of Istanbul on November 13, killing six people and injuring 81. The suspect in the terrorist attack was detained, she confessed to having links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned in Turkey. The head of the Turkish Interior Ministry, Suleiman Soylu, who rejected the condolences of the US Embassy, spoke of suspicions that the indication of a terrorist attack came from the Syrian border town of Kobani, and the perpetrator entered Turkish territory through the city of Afrin.
“Some countries, known as “friends and allies”, adhere to the position: “Whatever happens, as long as not a stable Turkey.” Don’t we know that those with whom you were hand in hand were behind the attack on Istiklal Street? Don’t we know that you’ve been running around our security organization, our intelligence units, wondering, “I wonder if he did it with our weapons?”. We know who they are, who for years looked like friends and allies to us and tried to bite us like a snake,” the Yeni Şafak newspaper quoted Soylu as saying that the Turkish Interior Minister was referring to the United States.
According to him, if Turkey had failed, it would have been “treated like a colonial detachment.”
“Today they are participating in various tricks because Turkey is successful. They had high hopes for this winter…. If you knew so much, why didn’t you inform Turkey about the PKK/PYD (Kurdistan Workers’ Party banned in Turkey) attack on Istiklal Street? Because you also stood for July 15 (on this date in 2016, there was an attempted coup in Turkey). We are face to face with an international operation,” the Turkish Interior Minister said.
Earlier, the consulates General of Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland and Germany in Istanbul announced that they had stopped accepting visitors due to the threat of terrorist attacks in the city center. As a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti, the ambassadors were summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, they were told about the unreasonableness of such behavior. The Consulate of the Russian Federation reported that it continues to operate normally. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Thursday called the closure of a number of European countries of their consulates in Istanbul a “psychological war” against the country amid statements from the United States about the threat of terrorist attacks.
The US Embassy warned its citizens on Monday about the danger of terrorist attacks in the center of Istanbul. The targets, allegedly, may be churches, synagogues, diplomatic missions in Istanbul or other places popular among foreigners, especially the Istanbul districts of Beyoglu, Galata, Taksim, Istiklal Street.
Last week, the US Embassy also warned about the likelihood of terrorist attacks against the background of the situation with the burning of copies of the Koran in Europe by the far-right. The French diplomatic mission then issued a similar warning, citing information from the American embassy.
