The 2008 Istanbul bombings occurred on July 27, 2008 when two explosions hit a busy shopping street in the

Güngören Güngören is an industrial and working class residential district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is located near the district of Bakırköy on the Çatalca Peninsula in the western half of Istanbul Province. It is the smallest district of Turkey in ter ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, killing seventeen people, five of them children, and injuring 154. The attacks occurred at 9:45 p.m. local time, 18:45 UTC, on a pedestrian street closed to traffic. The bombings were the deadliest civilian attacks in Turkey since the

2003 Istanbul bombings The 2003 Istanbul bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul, Turkey on November 15 and 20, 2003. On November 15, two truck bombs were detonated, one in ...

, five years earlier.

Details

The first of the two bombs was a sonic bomb which was placed in a telephone cabin and second bomb was placed in a

waste container A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...

50 meters away, near a crowded street. The first bomb caused crowds to gather for help and curiosity, and around 10 minutes later, the second and more powerful bomb exploded, causing many of the casualties. The police believe that the bombs were activated remotely. Political analyst Damla Aras said that, "there is a possibility they might be A4, C-4 explosives, which were brought from northern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

by the PKK and have been used several times in Turkey." Early on, news sources thought the first explosion was caused by a

gas leak A gas leak refers to a leak of natural gas or another gaseous product from a pipeline or other containment into any area where the gas should not be present. Gas leaks can be hazardous to health as well as the environment. Even a small leak int ...

Investigation

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing as of yet, although Kurdish separatist militants are suspected. The

Istanbul Police ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

indicate that the incident bears the hallmarks of the

Kurdistan Workers Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

(PKK), possibly in revenge for a series of major operations by the Turkish military on its bases days prior to the incident. However a senior member of the PKK, Zubeyir Aydar, denied the implication: "The Kurdish liberation movement is not involved in this attack." Based on a tip from residents, three teenagers were taken into custody in connection to the bombings. Nine people were indicted in December 2008 over the bombings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Istanbul Bombings Terrorist incidents in Turkey in 2008 Terrorist incidents in Istanbul 2008 murders in Turkey 2008 Istanbul bombings Mass murder in 2008 Improvised explosive device bombings in Asia 21st-century mass murder in Turkey July 2008 events in Turkey Improvised explosive device bombings in Europe

Details

Investigation

See also

References