Turkish court arrests 17 suspects over Istanbul blast

A Turkish court ordered the pre-trial detention of 17 people suspected of being involved in an explosion this week in central Istanbul that killed six people, the state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Friday.
The detainees were among a group of almost 50 people Istanbul police had rounded up earlier this week after the attack, and include the suspected bomber, which police identified as Syrian national Ahlam Albashir.
Anadolu said the others detainees included the person who drove the bomber, and others the authorities have accused of “murder with a bomb” and “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state”. More than half the suspects detained were to be deported, the agency reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, which injured more than 80 people on Istiklal Avenue, a busy and historic pedestrian strip. The Turkish government quickly blamed Kurdish militants for the blast and police have said the suspected bomber was trained by Kurdish militants in Syria.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, have denied involvement.