QAMISHLI: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied Monday any role in a deadly bomb attack in central Istanbul that killed six people, which Turkiye has blamed on Kurdish militants.
“Our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing,” said Mazloum Abdi, the chief commander of the US-allied SDF.
Turkiye considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the main component of the SDF — an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Ankara has blamed the PKK, which has waged an insurgency in Turkiye for decades, for carrying out the attack Sunday in Istanbul. The PKK also denied involvement in the attack.
There has been no claim of responsibility.
The SDF is the de facto army of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria.
It provided crucial assistance to a US-led coalition against the Daesh group.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said “the order for the attack was given from Kobani,” referring to a Kurdish-held city in Syria near the Turkish border.
Kurdish authorities in Syria accused Turkiye in a statement Monday of “creating pretexts and excuses to prepare the ground for attacking us.”
Turkiye has launched waves of attacks on Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish militias as well as Daesh militants, and Ankara and forces backed by it have seized territory along the Syrian border.
Since May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a new operation into northern Syria.
Turkish police, quoted by Turkiye’s NTV television channel, said the main suspect in the bombing on Istanbul’s Istiklal Avenue was a Syrian woman sent by Kurdish militants.
The Kurdish administration said the suspect, identified by Ankara as Alham Albashir, does not appear in any of its registries.
Forty-six people were detained in total, Turkish police said.
Syria’s Kurds deny involvement in Turkiye bombing
https://arab.news/gbng8
Syria’s Kurds deny involvement in Turkiye bombing
- Turkiye considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units — the main component of the SDF — an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party
- Ankara has blamed the PKK, which has waged an insurgency in Turkiye for decades, for carrying out the attack
Moroccan lawyers protest bill they say threatens profession’s independence
- The government has presented the draft law as a means of “modernizing” the legal profession with anti-corruption measures
RABAT: Thousands of lawyers demonstrated on Friday outside Morocco’s parliament in Rabat, calling for the withdrawal of a draft law they said threatened their immunity and independence.
Dressed in black robes, they waved banners and chanted slogans against the bill, which is currently under parliamentary review.
The government has presented the draft law as a means of “modernizing” the legal profession with anti-corruption measures.
But the lawyers say some of its provisions could curtail their protections.
A main point of contention is the provision to grant the courts direct disciplinary power over lawyers. Normally, disciplinary matters are handled internally by the bar association.
“Our demand is simply the withdrawal of the draft law,” said Omar Mahmoud Bendjelloun, 49, from the Moroccan bar association, adding that the bill would “subjugate” the legal profession.
Lawyer Karima Salama, 47, called for “a participatory approach” to reforming the profession.
Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi said during a parliamentary session on Tuesday that he was “ready to renounce, modify or reform anything that harms lawyers.”
Still, the minister insisted that “lawyering needs to change, and I will implement that change.”
