Bulgaria announces detention of suspects in connection with terrorist attack in Istanbul

Five people were detained in Bulgaria on suspicion of complicity with terrorism, according to investigators, they were involved in the explosion in the center of Istanbul, which occurred on September 13 and claimed the lives of six people, transmits Bulgarian National Television.

Three detainees are citizens of Moldova, another man and one woman are of Arab origin, the publication says. It is known that one of the arrested is wanted by Interpol.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic, five citizens are accused of aiding a person who is believed to be the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Istanbul. Earlier it was reported that the day after the explosion, a woman was detained, who is suspected of what happened. The detainees in Bulgaria were supposed to help the perpetrator of the terrorist act after the attack, including taking her out of Turkey, the Prosecutor General’s Office explained.

Attack in the center of Istanbul happened on the afternoon of November 13 on the busy pedestrian street Istiklal and claimed the lives of six people, more than 80 were injured. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately stated that “preliminary data, footage from CCTV cameras, the first information transmitted by the governor, show that it smells like a terrorist attack here.” Later, the first allegations of involvement in the terrorist attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) appeared.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekira Bozdaga said CCTV footage shows the suspect, who had been sitting on a bench for more than 40 minutes, get up one or two minutes before the explosion, leaving her bag or plastic bag behind. On November 14, Turkish media published footage of the detention of a woman suspected of committing a terrorist attack in the center of Istanbul.