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
)
, 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 ...
, 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, 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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
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 in ...
.[
]
Investigation
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombing as of yet, although Kurdish separatist militants are suspected. The Istanbul Police 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 south ...
(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.]
See also
* 1999 Istanbul bombings
The 1999 Istanbul bombings were a pair of bombings that took place in Istanbul, Turkey on March 13, killing 13, and March 14, 1999, injuring two. A third bomb was found in a Burger King outlet but successfully defused.
A Turkish court sentenced ...
* 2003 Istanbul bombings
*2022 Istanbul bombing
A terrorist attack occurred on İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, on , killing 6 people and injuring 81 others.
No group has claimed responsibility, but Turkish authorities announced that Kurdish separatists were ...
* List of terrorist incidents, 2008
This is a timeline of incidents in 2008 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
Guidelines
*To be included, en ...
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