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Kurds may have been given go-ahead to commit terror attack in Istanbul — Russian envoy

Alexander Lavrentiev stressed that the solution of the Kurdish issue would be an important factor "which could help stabilize the situation in the entire region"

© AP Photo/Francisco Seco, archive

ASTANA, November 23. /TASS/. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, which, according to the Turkish authorities, was behind the terrorist attack in Istanbul, might have received a "go-ahead" to commit it, Russia’s special presidential representative for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, said after the 19th international meeting on Syria on the Astana platform.

"We cannot say that these terrorist attacks, which, as our Turkish partners have told us, should be blamed on the PKK, were some kind of initiative on the part of that organization. In all likelihood, some kind of go-ahead was given to them," he said.

Lavrentiev stressed that the solution of the Kurdish issue would be an important factor "which could help stabilize the situation in the entire region."

An explosion on Istiklal Street in Istanbul on November 13 killed six and injured more than 80 others. According to investigators, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its Syrian branch (People's Defense Units) were behind the attack.

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