Terrorism is common fight, European Council president says on terrorist attack in Türkiye

By Merve Aydogan

BALI, Indonesia (AA) - European Council President Charles Michel stressed Tuesday that the "fight against terrorism is a common fight."

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Michel responded to a question by Anadolu Agency on the deadly weekend terrorist attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street, saying "it is extremely important to be all together, try to prevent, to cooperate at the level of intelligence services."

"The EU has a very strong position. We want to coordinate, cooperate in order to fight against terrorism everywhere," he added.

He also said there is no meeting planned with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Turkish police arrested the perpetrator of the attack on Istiklal Avenue, Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman who planted the explosives, in a pre-dawn raid, while dozens of other suspects were detained.

The police said Albashir has confessed that she was trained by the YPG/PYD/PKK terror group as an intelligence operative and entered Türkiye illegally from Afrin, Syria.

The attack left six people dead and injured 81 others, two of them critically.

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 some 40,000 people, including innocent women, children and infants.