The Turkish police clarified today, Monday, that the perpetrator of the Istanbul bombing is a young Syrian woman, who confessed that she acted based on orders from the Kurdistan Workers' Party and received instructions in Kobani, northeast Syria.

She was also arrested along with a number of suspects in an apartment in Küçükçekmece on the outskirts of Istanbul. The Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu also stated that the accused was preparing "to flee to Greece".

Soylu, who revisited the bombing site today, added that 46 people have been detained so far and pointed out that "operations are ongoing" to arrest other suspects. He continued: "They wanted to send us a message, we received it and will respond in the strongest possible way."

In contrast, the Kurdistan Workers' Party denied involvement in a statement on its website and said it does not target civilians.

For its part, the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by Washington and with the Kurdish People's Protection Units as its main factions, denied any connection to the Istanbul bombing, according to its general commander Mazloum Abdi.

Also, Abdi wrote in a tweet: "We confirm that our forces have no connection to the Istanbul bombing, and we reject the allegations accusing our forces," adding, "We express our sincere condolences to the families of the missing and the Turkish people, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured."

The Turkish interior minister had reported this morning that the police arrested 22 suspects, including the person who planted the bomb. He added that the order for the attack on Istanbul's Istiklal Street came from the city of Kobani in northern Syria, where Turkish forces have conducted operations against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units in recent years.

In the same context, the Turkish interior minister said: "The person who carried out the operation left the bomb and was arrested... About 21 others have previously been arrested." Soylu accused the Kurdistan Workers' Party of being behind the bombing.

Also, there was a powerful explosion on Sunday afternoon that shook the crowded Istiklal Street in central Istanbul, killing 6 people and injuring at least 81 others.

Additionally, the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced on Sunday evening that a woman carried out the attack, which left six dead and 81 injured, two of whom are seriously wounded, according to the latest count. Oktay told journalists: "We consider it a terrorist attack resulting from an attacker, who may be a woman, detonating a bomb according to preliminary information."