The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) announced that, so far, no Romanian citizens have been identified among the victims of the attack in Istanbul, and, at the level of the Consulate General, no requests for consular assistance have been received regarding this incident.
An explosion occurred in the Istiklal pedestrian area in Istanbul on Sunday. At least eight people have been killed and 81 others wounded following the explosion. Later on, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a bomb attack that “smells like terrorism”.
“Representatives of the Consulate General of Romania in Istanbul are continuing the dialogue with the local authorities, being prepared to provide consular assistance, if the situation requires it, according to the legal powers and according to requests,” the Romanian Foreign Ministry said.
The Ministry reminded that Romanian citizens can request consular assistance at the telephone numbers of the Consulate General of Romania in Istanbul +90 212 3583541, +90 212 3580516, +90 212 3583537, the calls being redirected to the Contact and Support Centre for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken over by Call Centre operators round the clock.
Also, Romanian citizens who are facing a difficult, special, urgent situation have at their disposal the consular office’s emergency telephone number: +90 533 5420695.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Turkey was hit by a string of deadly bombings between 2015 and 2017 by ISIL (ISIS) and by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Al Jazeera has obtained pictures of the woman suspected to be behind the bombing, who officials believe was a member of the PKK. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told A Haber television that the woman was observed sitting on one of the benches on the street for more than 40 minutes.