A number of suspects have been arrested over the double bombings in Istanbul that killed 17 people last Sunday, Turkey's interior minister says.
Besir Atalay blamed Kurdish separatist rebels for the blasts, and said most of those involved had been detained.
"Our judgement is Six Killed in Gunfight Outside US Consulate in Istanbul ...
Turkey reach Euro-champ quarter-final ... that this merciless attack was the work of the bloody separatist group," said Mr Atalay.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has denied any role in the attacks, the bloodiest in Turkey since 2003.
But security services say the blasts bore the hallmarks of the separatist group.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier implied the PKK was to blame, saying the bombings were a "cost" of the government's military campaign against the PKK.
PKK denial
PKK leader Zubeyir Aydar said earlier his group was not linked to the attacks.
"We think this attack was carried out by dark forces," he added, in what appeared to be a reference to ultra-nationalists.
Sunday's first bomb was planted in a rubbish bin in the Gungoren area. It caused crowds to gather before a second, larger device detonated.
The blasts occurred about 10 minutes apart - the first at around 2200 local time (1900 GMT) on a busy pedestrian street. Five children were among the dead.
They were the worst such attacks Turkey since 2003, when al Qaeda carried out a series of bombings in Istanbul.
(BBC)
<< Back
