City hall in Netherlands hangs Turkish flag in support of Türkiye

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish flag was hung on the Rotterdam City Hall in the Netherlands in honor of the victims in Sunday’s deadly terrorist attack in Istanbul.

“The Turkish flag hangs at half-staff on the city hall of Rotterdam. Our thoughts go out to the victims of the attack and their relatives,” the city of Rotterdam said on Twitter on Monday, sharing a video of the flag.

At least six people were killed and 81 injured in Sunday's bomb blast, which the Turkish government confirmed was carried out by the terror group PKK/YPG.

Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman who planted the explosives in the crowded commercial hub, has been arrested along with dozens of other suspects.

Albashir confessed that she was trained by the PKK/YPG terror group as an intelligence operative and entered Türkiye illegally from the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin, according to Turkish officials.

Authorities said she took orders from the terror group's headquarters in Kobani, Syria.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the terror group's Syrian offshoot.