Iran Press/ Iran news: Turkish police said Monday that they had detained a Syrian woman with suspected links to Kurdish militants.
According to Turkish police, the suspect confessed to planting a bomb that exploded on a bustling pedestrian avenue in Istanbul, killing six people and wounding several dozen others.
Sunday's explosion occurred on Istiklal Avenue, a famous thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants that leads to Taksim Square.
The Istanbul Police Department said videos from around 1,200 security cameras were reviewed, and raids were carried out at 21 locations. At least 46 other people were also detained for questioning.
Turkish authorities blamed the PKK for the attack. According to a statement released by the Kurdish group, the PKK has denied involvement in the Istanbul bombing.
"Our people and the democratic public know that we are not related to this incident, that we will not directly target civilians," according to a statement from the militant group carried by the pro-PKK Firat News website.
The PKK has fought an insurgency in Turkey since 1984. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then. Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist group.
Also, Syria's Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has denied any role in a bomb attack.
"Our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing," said Mazloum Abdi, the chief commander of the US-allied SDF.
Turkey considers the US-backed SDF a "terrorist" group.
Turkey's interior minister on Monday rejected a message of condolence from the United States.
"We do not accept the US embassy's message of condolences," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a response designed to focus attention on US support for groups Ankara considers to be offshoots of the PKK, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Sunday's blast is the first such explosion in Turkey's largest city in several years.
Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by ISIS and groups affiliated with the outlawed Kurdish PKK group.
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