Turkey arrests suspect over Istanbul attack

Turkey yesterday said it had arrested one person in connection with a deadly suicide bombing that ripped through the historic heart of Istanbul, killing 10 tourists, most of them Germans.

Ankara has said that Tuesday's attack was carried out by a 28-year-old Syrian who belonged to the Islamic State (IS) group and had recently entered Turkey from Syria.

One person was arrested on Tuesday evening in connection with the bloodshed, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said yesterday, without explaining the suspect's role in the strike.

In the wake of the attack, Turkish security forces rounded up 68 suspected IS members across the country, state media said, but it was not clear if any of them were directly connected to the Istanbul bombing.

Turkey has been hit by a string of deadly attacks blamed on jihadists over the last year, including a double suicide bombing in October in Ankara that killed more than 100 people.

But Tuesday's bombing was the first time in recent memory tourists had been targeted in the heart of Istanbul.

The bomber, identified as Nabil Fadli, detonated his charge on Sultanahmet Square which is home to Turkey's most visited historic sites including the Ottoman-era Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia church.

The explosion went off by the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt that was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city's most iconic landmarks.