Suspect arrested in Istanbul suicide bombings
Turkish police have detained a Turkish man they believe helped prepare the bombs and trucks used in the Istanbul suicide bombings last month, the authorities said today.
The man, identified by police only as FY, was detained several days ago in south-eastern Turkey near the Iranian and Iraqi borders with a forged passport as he tried to flee abroad, police said.
They said FY rented the workshop in an industrial section of Istanbul where the bombs were prepared and was believed to have helped prepared the explosives and trucks used in the attacks. The attacks against two synagogues, the British Consulate and a London-based bank left 61 dead.
Authorities called him a “key suspect” in the bombings.
FY was taken early today to an industrial park in Istanbul to show police how the bombs were made and loaded on to the vehicles.
FY appeared to be about 30 years old and wore a brown jacket and grey trousers. He had a short beard and dark hair.
He was taken inside an empty workshop and could be seen pointing to police. He was surrounded by about a dozen officers.
He was taken to the site in an armoured vehicle escorted by a convoy of police cars.
More than 30 people have been charged in connection with the November 15 attacks on two Istanbul synagogues and similar attacks five days later on the British consulate and a London-based bank in Istanbul.
Most of those charged are believed to have played minor roles.
In the most important arrest so far, authorities charged a man, identified by the Turkish media as Yusuf Polat, with a crime amounting to treason.
Polat, caught trying to slip into Iran using a fake ID, allegedly gave the final go-ahead for the attack at Beth Israel. Turkish newspapers said Polat has confessed to belonging to a Turkish al-Qaida cell.
Several key suspects in the bombings are believed to have slipped abroad following the attacks.
