Mazloum Abdi, Commander-in-Chief of he Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has tweeted rejecting the allegations by the Turkish state accusing Kurdish forces of the bombing in Istanbul on 13 November and saying the SDF had nothing to do with the explosion. Abdi’s tweet came out at the same time as a statement from the People’s Defence Centre (HSM) of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which similarly denied all allegations accusing Kurdish forces.

“We affirm that our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing, and we reject the allegations accusing our forces of that. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the missing and to the Turkish people, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” said Mazloum Abdi.

A source from SDF’s management told North Press that moreover, the accusations were baseless, as everyone knows the military formation and the mission of the SDF forces, which are limited to fighting terrorism and protecting Syrian areas.

When Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu went to the scene of the explosion in Istiklal Avenue to commemorate the victims, he said that pieces of evidence showed that the PKK and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of Syria were behind the attack, reported state-run Anadolu Agency.

“Our assessment is that the order for the deadly terror attack came from Ayn al-Arab [Kobanê] in northern Syria, where the PKK/YPG has its Syrian headquarters,” said Soylu.

Following the allegations, the HSM shared a public statement strongly rejecting the Turkish government’s accusations and extended their condolences to the families of victims.