Turkey vows vengeance after stadium blasts kill 38

Turkey has vowed vengeance for the victims of twin blasts outside a football stadium in Istanbul that killed 38 people and injured more than 150. Turkish officials have said Kurdish militants may be responsible for the two bombs, which appeared to be a co-ordinated attack on police. “Sooner or later, we will have our vengeance,” said interior minister Suleyman Soylu, speaking at a funeral service at Istanbul police headquarters.

This blood will not be left on the ground, no matter what the price, what the cost.

Suleyman Soylu, interior minister

President Tayyip Erdogan called the attack on Saturday night “the ugly face of terror”. In the first explosion, a car bomb was blown up outside the Vodafone Arena, home to the club Besiktas, after a football match. Less than a minute later, a suicide bomber hit in an adjacent park. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said early indications pointed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. “The arrows point at the PKK,” he told CNN Turk. Thirteen people have been arrested. Most of the victims - 30 - were police officers, seven were civilians and one was yet to be identified, officials said. Another 166 were injured, and 136 people remained in hospital, including 14 under intensive care.

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