The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, denied any involvement in the bomb explosion in the centre of Constantinople (Istanbul) which resulted in the death of six people on Sunday, following Turkish allegations that pointed the finger the group being responsible for the attack.

“It should be known that we have nothing to do with this incident, that we do not target civilians and reject actions that target them,” the PKK said in a statement carried by the PKK-affiliated Firat news agency.

“We are a movement waging a just and legitimate liberation struggle (…) It is therefore out of the question for us to target civilians in any way in Turkey,” the statement, which is signed by the People’s Defence Centre, an organization of PKK.

The armed Kurdish separatist movement also accused the Turkish government of having “dark plans” and of “targeting Kobani”.

Kurdish rebels are blamed by Ankara for the explosion on a busy shopping street in Constantinople (Istanbul), and police have arrested a Syrian woman suspected of planting the bomb, and have also arrested 46 other suspects.

Police announced that the suspect’s name is Ahlam Albashir, a citizen of Syria, and was arrested during an overnight raid in the suburb of Kucukcekmece.

The Turkish Minister of Interior, Suleyman Soylu, said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG are responsible for the explosion that occurred yesterday, Sunday, on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul.

Soylu claimed that the order for the attack had been given in Kobani, a city in northern Syria, where Turkish forces have carried out operations against the YPG in recent years.

Ankara maintains that the YPG is a wing of the PKK. The US has supported the YPG in the conflict in Syria, resulting in friction with NATO ally Turkey.

Albashir is seen in handcuffs in a video broadcast by state broadcaster TRT Haber. He has curly hair and wears a red jumpsuit with the words “New York” written on it.